Clathrate formation in water-noble gas (Hydrogen) systems at high pressures

Phase equilibria in helium-water, neon-water, and hxdrogen-water svstems were studied at pressures up to 15 kbar. The results are compared with the data for the previously investigated water systems with argon, crypton, and xenon. It is concluded that classical polyhedral clathrate hydrates are formed in all the systems, the stability of the hydrates diminishing from xenon to neon. In all the systems, except the xenon system, the hydrates are based on the crystalline framework of ice II. Their formation demands high pressures; the larger the guest molecule, the higher the pressure required. The xenon molecule seems to be too large to fit the cage of the ice II framework; therefore, the xenon hydrate CS-I remains stable up to at least 15 kbar. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 974–980, September–October, 1999.