Multiple H2 occupancy of cages of clathrate hydrate under mild conditions

Experiments were carried out by reacting H(2) gas with N(2) hydrate at a temperature of 243 K and a pressure of 15 MPa. The characterizations of the reaction products indicated that multiple H(2) molecules can be loaded into both large and small cages of structure II clathrate hydrates. The realization of multiple H(2) occupancy of hydrate cages under moderate conditions not only brings new insights into hydrogen clathrates but also refreshes the perspective of clathrate hydrates as hydrogen storage media.     

Application of clathrate compounds for hydrogen storage

The review considers current works on clathrate hydrogen compounds, aimed at creating hydrogen accumulators suitable for practical application. Analysis of published data showed that clathrate hydrates formed by pure hydrogen are unsuitable for this purpose in view of their fairly low limiting hydrogen content and the necessity for their synthesis of extremely high pressures (>100 MPa) that are still industrially unfeasible. The possibilities for hydrogen storage in double (including auxiliary guest molecules along with hydrogen) clathrate hydrates are considered. It is concluded from published data that sorbents on the basis of the so-called “metal-organic frameworks” (MOFs) with a pore size of 1–2 nm hold a greater promise for hydrogen storage at temperatures of about 100 and moderately (up to 10 MPa) high pressures, but the development of all the considered methods of hydrogen storage has not yet grown out of laboratory experiments.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance parameters for methane molecule trapped in clathrate hydrates

The calculations of the nuclear shielding and spin-spin coupling constants were carried out for two models of clathrate hydrates, 5(12) and 5(12)6(8), using the density functional theory three-parameter Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr method with the basis set aug-cc-pVDZ (optimization) and HuzIII-su3 (NMR parameters). Particular attention has been devoted to evaluate the influence of a geometrical arrangement, the effect of long-range interactions on the NMR shielding of methane molecule, and to predict whether (13)C and (1)H chemical shifts can distinguish between guests in two clathrate hydrates cages. The correlation of the changes in the (17)O shielding constants depend strongly on the hydrogen-bonding topology. The intermolecular hydrogen-bond transmitted (1h)J(OH) spin-spin coupling constants are substantial. The increase of their values is connected with the elongation of the intramolecular O-H bond and the shortening of the intermolecular O···H distance. These data suggests that hydrogen bonds between double donor-single acceptor (DDA)-type water molecules acting as a proton acceptor from single donor-double acceptor (DAA)-type water molecules are stronger than ones formed by DAA-type water molecules acting as an acceptor for a DDA water proton. These state-of-the-art calculations confirmed the earlier experimental findings of the cage-dependency of (13)C chemical shift of methane.     

A molecular dynamics study of ethanol-water hydrogen bonding in binary structure I clathrate hydrate with CO2

Guest-host hydrogen bonding in clathrate hydrates occurs when in addition to the hydrophilic moiety which causes the molecule to form hydrates under high pressure-low temperature conditions, the guests contain a hydrophilic, hydrogen bonding functional group. In the presence of carbon dioxide, ethanol clathrate hydrate has been synthesized with 10% of large structure I (sI) cages occupied by ethanol. In this work, we use molecular dynamics simulations to study hydrogen bonding structure and dynamics in this binary sI clathrate hydrate in the temperature range of 100-250 K. We observe that ethanol forms long-lived (>500 ps) proton-donating and accepting hydrogen bonds with cage water molecules from both hexagonal and pentagonal faces of the large cages while maintaining the general cage integrity of the sI clathrate hydrate. The presence of the nondipolar CO(2) molecules stabilizes the hydrate phase, despite the strong and prevalent alcohol-water hydrogen bonding. The distortions of the large cages from the ideal form, the radial distribution functions of the guest-host interactions, and the ethanol guest dynamics are characterized in this study. In previous work through dielectric and NMR relaxation time studies, single crystal x-ray diffraction, and molecular dynamics simulations we have observed guest-water hydrogen bonding in structure II and structure H clathrate hydrates. The present work extends the observation of hydrogen bonding to structure I hydrates.     

Hydrogen storage in sH hydrates: a Monte Carlo study

Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations are performed to evaluate the hydrogen-storage capacity of the recently discovered hydrogen hydrates of the sH type, at 274 K and up to 500 MPa. First, the pure H2 hydrate is investigated in order to determine the upper limit of H 2 content in sH hydrates. It is found that the storage capacity of the hypothetical pure H2 hydrate could reach 3.6 wt % at 500 MPa. Depending on pressure, the large cavity of this hydrate can accommodate up to eight H2 molecules, while the small and medium ones are singly occupied even at pressures as high as 500 MPa. Next, the binary H2-methylcyclohexane sH hydrate is examined. In this case, the small and medium cavities are again singly occupied, resulting in a maximum H2 uptake of 1.4 wt %. Finally, the results from simulations on pure H2 and binary hydrates are utilized to investigate the potential of H2 storage in sH hydrates where the promoter molecules occupy the medium instead of the large cavities.     

Experimental and theoretical analysis of the rotational Raman spectrum of hydrogen molecules in clathrate hydrates

The Raman spectra of H(2) and HD molecules in simple hydrogen and binary hydrogen-tetrahydrofuran clathrate hydrates have been measured at temperatures as low as 20 K. The rotational bands of trapped molecules in simple and binary hydrates have been analyzed, and the contributions originating from hydrogen molecules in the large cages have been separated from those in the small cages. A theoretical model, consisting in rigid cages enclosing interacting hydrogen molecules, has been exploited to calculate, on the basis of quantum mechanics, the Raman intensity of the rotational transitions for up to two interacting molecules in one cage. A comparison with experiment leads to a clear interpretation of sidebands appearing in the Raman rotational lines. The quantitative agreement between theory and experiment obtained in some cases clarifies the importance of the choice of the interaction potential, and of the proton disorder in the clathrate crystal.     

Phase relations and binary clathrate hydrate formation in the system H2-THF-H2O

Experimentally determined equilibrium phase relations are reported for the system H2-THF-H2O as a function of aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) concentration from 260 to 290 K at pressures up to 45 MPa. Data are consistent with the formation of cubic structure-II (CS-II) binary H2-THF clathrate hydrates with a stoichiometric THF-to-water ratio of 1:17, which can incorporate modest volumes of molecular hydrogen at elevated pressures. Direct compositional analyses of the clathrate phase, at both low (0.20 mol %) and stoichiometric (5.56 mol %) initial THF aqueous concentrations, are consistent with observed phase behavior, suggesting full occupancy of large hexakaidecahedral (51264) clathrate cavities by THF, coupled with largely complete (80-90%) filling of small dodecahedral (512) cages by single H2 molecules at pressures of >30 MPa, giving a clathrate formula of (H2) < or =2.THF.17H2O. Results should help to resolve the current controversy over binary H2-THF hydrate hydrogen contents; data confirm recent reports that suggest a maximum of approximately 1 mass % H2, this contradicting values of up to 4 mass % previously claimed for comparable conditions.     

Molecular dynamics study of structure H clathrate hydrates of methane and large guest molecules

Methane storage in structure H (sH) clathrate hydrates is attractive due to the relatively higher stability of sH as compared to structure I methane hydrate. The additional stability is gained without losing a significant amount of gas storage density as happens in the case of structure II (sII) methane clathrate. Our previous work has showed that the selection of a specific large molecule guest substance (LMGS) as the sH hydrate former is critical in obtaining the optimum conditions for crystallization kinetics, hydrate stability, and methane content. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations are employed to provide further insight regarding the dependence of methane occupancy on the type of the LMGS and pressure. Moreover, the preference of methane molecules to occupy the small (5(12)) or medium (4(3)5(6)6(3)) cages and the minimum cage occupancy required to maintain sH clathrate mechanical stability are examined. We found that thermodynamically, methane occupancy depends on pressure but not on the nature of the LMGS. The experimentally observed differences in methane occupancy for different LMGS may be attributed to the differences in crystallization kinetics and/or the nonequilibrium conditions during the formation. It is also predicted that full methane occupancies in both small and medium clathrate cages are preferred at higher pressures but these cages are not fully occupied at lower pressures. It was found that both small and medium cages are equally favored for occupancy by methane guests and at the same methane content, the system suffers a free energy penalty if only one type of cage is occupied. The simulations confirm the instability of the hydrate when the small and medium cages are empty. Hydrate decomposition was observed when less than 40% of the small and medium cages are occupied.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of binary structure H hydrogen and methyl-tert-butylether clathrate hydrates

Binary structure H (sH) hydrogen and methyl-tert-butylether (MTBE) clathrate hydrates are studied with molecular dynamics simulations. Simulations on a 3 x 3 x 3 sH unit cell with up to 4.7 mass % hydrogen gas are run at pressures of 100 bars and 2 kbars at 100 and 273 K. For the small and medium cages of the sH unit cell, H2 guest molecule occupancies of 0, 1 (single occupancy), and 2 (double occupancy) are considered with the MTBE molecule occupying all of the large cages. An increase of the small and medium cage occupancies from 1 to 2 leads to a jump in the unit cell volume and configurational energy. Calculations are also set up with 13, 23, and 89 of the MTBE molecules in the large cages replaced by sets of three to six H2 molecules, and the effects on the configurational energy and volume of the simulation cell are determined. As MTBE molecules are replaced with sets of H2 guests in the large cages, the configurational energy of the unit cell increases. At the lower temperature, the energy and volume of the clathrate are not sensitive to the number of hydrogen guests in the large cages; however, at higher temperatures the repulsions among the H2 guest molecules in the large cages cause an increase in the system energy and volume.     

Double clathrate hydrates of tetrabutylammonium fluoride + helium, neon, hydrogen and argon at high pressures

Decomposition curves of double ionic clathrate hydrates of tetrabutylammonium fluoride with helium, neon, hydrogen and argon were studied at pressures up to 800 MPa. Formation of double hydrates with helium, neon and hydrogen does not lead to any significant increase of the temperatures of decomposition of these hydrates; at high temperatures the hydrates may decompose even at lower temperatures than the hydrate of pure tetraalkylammonium salt does. Decomposition temperatures of double hydrates with argon in all cases were 4–8 °C higher in comparison with the decomposition temperature of ionic clathrate hydrates of tetrabutylammonium fluoride. We suppose that this behavior is caused by simultaneous effect of three factors on hydrate decomposition temperature: (1) partial filling of the small cavities in the framework of the hydrate with water molecules, (2) weakness of the van der Waals interactions between the gas molecules and the host water molecules, and (3) dissolution of helium, hydrogen and neon in the solution of tetrabutylammonium salt causing a decrease of melting temperatures of the hydrates formed from these solutions.     

Titanium-capped carbon chains as promising new hydrogen storage media

The capacity of Ti-capped sp carbon atomic chains for use as hydrogen storage media is studied using first-principles density functional theory. The Ti atom is strongly attached at one end of the carbon chains via d-p hybridization, forming stable TiC(n) complexes. We demonstrate that the number of adsorbed H(2) molecules on Ti through Kubas interactions depends upon the chain types. For polyyne (n even) or cumulene (n odd) structures, each Ti atom can hold up to five or six H(2) molecules, respectively. Furthermore, the TiC(5) chain effectively terminated on a C(20) fullerene can store hydrogen with an optimal binding energy of 0.52 eV per H(2) molecule. Our results reveal a possible way to explore high-capacity hydrogen storage materials in truly one-dimensional carbon structures.     

Phase equilibrium measurements of structure II clathrate hydrates of hydrogen with various promoters

Phase equilibrium measurements of single and mixed organic clathrate hydrates with hydrogen were determined within a pressure range of 2.0-14.0 MPa. The organic compounds studied were furan, 2,5-dihydrofuran, tetrahydropyran, 1,3-dioxolane and cyclopentane. These organic compounds are known to form structure II clathrate hydrates with water. It was found that the addition of hydrogen to form a mixed clathrate hydrate increases the stability compared to the single organic clathrate hydrates. Moreover, the mixed clathrate hydrate also has a much higher stability compared to a pure hydrogen structure II clathrate hydrate. Therefore, the organic compounds act as promoter materials. The stabilities of the single and mixed organic clathrate hydrates with hydrogen showed the following trend in increasing order: 1,3-dioxolane < 2,5-dihydrofuran < tetrahydropyran < furan < cyclopentane, indicating that both size and geometry of the organic compound determine the stability of the clathrate hydrates.     

Chemical-clathrate hybrid hydrogen storage: storage in both guest and host

Hydrogen storage from two independent sources of the same material represents a novel approach to the hydrogen storage problem, yielding storage capacities greater than either of the individual constituents. Here we report a novel hydrogen storage scheme in which recoverable hydrogen is stored molecularly within clathrate cavities as well as chemically in the clathrate host material. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopic measurements confirm the formation of beta-hydroquinone (beta-HQ) clathrate with molecular hydrogen. Hydrogen within the beta-HQ clathrate vibrates at considerably lower frequency than hydrogen in the free gaseous phase and rotates nondegenerately with splitting comparable to the rotational constant. Compared with water-based clathrate hydrate phases, the beta-HQ+H2 clathrate shows remarkable stability over a range of p-T conditions. Subsequent to clathrate decomposition, the host HQ was used to directly power a PEM fuel cell. With one H2 molecule per cavity, 0.61 wt % hydrogen may be stored in the beta-HQ clathrate cavities. When this amount is combined with complete dehydrogenation of the host hydroxyl hydrogens, the maximum hydrogen storage capacity increases nearly 300% to 2.43 wt %.     

用分子动力学模拟水合物储氢

用分子动力学(MD)模拟方法系统研究了结构Ⅰ型(SⅠ)和结构H型(SH)氢气水合物中氢气的占据情况并确定了氢气水合物的稳定结构: SⅠ水合物氢气分子数小胞中为2, 大胞中为3; SH水合物氢气分子数小胞中为2, 中胞中为2, 大胞中为11. 分析了稳定情况下水合物各胞腔内氢气分子之间的径向分布函数(RDF), 得出了氢气分子在各胞腔内的稳定位置. 由稳定位置得到了稳定结构下氢气水合物的储氢质量分数: SⅠ为5.085%, SH为6.467%. 与实验对比得出结论: SH水合物稳定结构下的储氢能力最强.     

Structure transition and tuning pattern in the double (tetramethylammonium hydroxide + gaseous guests) clathrate hydrates

In this study, we present an extraordinary structural transition accompanying the occurrence of more than two coexisting clathrate hydrate phases in the double (CH4 + tetramethylammonium hydroxide (Me(4)NOH)) and (H2 + Me(4)NOH) ionic clathrate hydrates using solid-state NMR spectroscopy (high-powered decoupling and CP/MAS) and powder X-ray diffraction. It was confirmed that structure-I (sI) and structure-II (sII) hydrates coexist as the water concentration increases. In the Me(4)NOH-depleted region, the unique tuning phenomenon was first observed at a chemical shift of -8.4 ppm where relatively small gaseous CH4 molecules partly occupy the sII large cages (sII-L), pulling out large cationic Me(4)N+ that is considered to be strongly bound with the surrounding host lattices. Moreover, we note that, while pure Me(4)NOH.16H(2)O clathrate hydrates melted at 249 K under atmospheric pressure conditions, the double (CH4 + Me(4)NOH) clathrate hydrate maintained a solid state up to approximately 283 K under 120 bar of CH4 with a conductivity of 0.065 S cm(-1), suggesting its potential use as a solid electrolyte. The present results indicate that ionic contributions must be taken into account for ionic clathrate hydrate systems because of their distinctive guest dynamic behavior and structural patterns. In particular, microscopic analyses of ionic clathrate hydrates for identifying physicochemical characteristics are expected to provide new insights into inclusion chemistry.     

Thermodynamic stability of type-I and type-II clathrate hydrates depending on the chemical species of the guest substances

The free energy differences are calculated for various type-I and type-II clathrate hydrates based on molecular-dynamics simulations, thereby evaluating the thermodynamic stability of the hydrates depending on the chemical species of the guest substances. The simulation systems consist of 27 unit cells, that is, 1242 water molecules and 216 guest molecules for type-I hydrates, and 3672 water molecules and 648 guest molecules for type-II hydrates. The water molecules are described by TIP4P potential, while the guest molecules are described by one-site Lennard-Jones potential, U=4epsilon{(sigma/r)12-(sigma/r)6}, where U is the potential energy, r is the particle distance, sigma is the particle diameter, and epsilon is the energy well depth. The optimal values of sigma that yield the minimum free energy (the best thermodynamic stability) were determined to be 0.39 nm for the type-I hydrates and 0.37 nm for the type-II hydrates.     

Hydrogen Adsorption on Ti Decorating Benzene Grafted Tetrahydrido-silsequioxanes

A novel type of Ti decorating benzene grafted tetrahydrido-silsequioxane struc-tures was designed and investigated using density functional theory(DFT).The hydrogen adsorption properties of this new material were investigated at the same level of theory.The results reveal that up to four hydrogen molecules(with the restrict of 18 electrons rule) can be adsorbed on each Ti atom of(TiC6H5)m-H4-mSi4O6(m = 1-4) molecular systems with the average binding energies of 0.691,0.692,0.693 and 0.695 eV for m = 1-4,respectively.The variations of HOMO- LUMO energy gaps verify that the host structures with four H2 molecules adsorbed own the best kinetics stability.The interaction mechanism of H2 molecules with the host materials mainly attributes to the well-known "kubas interactions".All the results indicate that the complex structures designed here may be used as hydrogen storage materials at ambient conditions.     

High-pressure reactivity of clathrate hydrates by two-photon dissociation of water

It is shown that photoinduced reactions are observed at room temperature and pressure of few tenths of gigapascal in clathrate hydrates of CO and of model hydrocarbons under mild irradiation at 350 nm with power in the 50-610 mW range. The reactions are triggered by highly reactive OH radicals produced by two-photon excitation of the lowest electronic excited state of water having dissociative character. The formation of CO(2) is observed in all the reactions involving carbonaceous clathrate hydrates, and direct or indirect evidence for the formation of molecular hydrogen is obtained. The CO(2) produced in the reactions can be sequestered as a clathrate hydrate whose stability range seems to extend to room temperature at pressures of 0.5-0.6 GPa. Although the N(2) hydrate is stable up to 0.9 GPa under irradiation, a partial cleavage of the N-N triple bond is produced once the hydrate decomposes at 0.1 GPa.     

A DFT Investigation on Hydrogen Adsorption Based on Alkali-metal Organic Complexes

Using density functional theory calculation based on the B3LYP method,we have studied the interactions of H2 molecules with alkali-metal organic complexes C6H6-nLin(n = 1～3),C6H5Na and C6H5K.A significant part of the electronic charge of M s orbital(Li 2s,Na 3s,K 4s) is donated to phenyl and is accommodated by H2 bonding orbital.For all the complexes considered,each bonded alkali-metal atom can adsorb up to five H2 in molecular form with the mean binding energy of 0.59,0.55 and 0.56 eV/H2 molecule for C6H6-nLin(n = 1～3),C6H5Na and C6H5K,respectively.The kinetic stability of these hydrogen-covered organometallic complexes is discussed in terms of energy gap between HOMO and LUMO.It is remarkable that these alkali-metal organic complexes can store up to 23.80 wt% hydrogen.Therefore,the complexes studied may be used as hydrogen storage materials.