A cost-effective method for the synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 materials from stoichiometric precursors via aqueous ammonia modulation at room temperature

•A cost-effective and facile method for the preparation of ZIF-8 is presented.•ZIF-8 can be produced at room temperature from stoichiometric precursor in NH3·H2O.•NH3·H2O concentration affects the particle size and textural property of ZIF-8.

In this report, a cost-effective and facile method for the preparation of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 material was presented. ZIF-8 can be readily synthesized from stoichiometric precursors in aqueous ammonia solution without any other additives at room temperature, comparing that a large excess of organic ligand is required to form ZIF-8 under similar conditions in pure aqueous solution. The structures, particle sizes and textural properties of resulting ZIF-8 materials can be easily tuneable by simply control over the concentration of aqueous ammonia in the synthesis mixture. This low-cost and efficient synthesis method has great potential for large scale production of ZIF-8 for practical applications.

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