Vibrational spectra of methane clathrate hydrates from molecular dynamics simulation

Molecular dynamics simulations were performed on methane clathrate hydrates at ambient conditions. Thermal expansion results over the temperature range 60-300 K show that the unit cell volume increases with temperature in agreement with experiment. Power spectra were obtained at 273 K from velocity autocorrelation functions for selected atoms, and normal modes were assigned. The spectra were further classified according to individual atom types, allowing the assignment of contributions from methane molecules located in small and large cages within the structure I unit cell. The symmetric C-H stretch of methane in the small cages occurs at a higher frequency than for methane located in the large cages, with a peak separation of 14 cm(-1). Additionally, we determined that the symmetric C-H stretch in methane gas occurs at the same frequency as methane in the large cages. Results of molecular dynamics simulations indicate the use of power spectra obtained from the velocity autocorrelation function is a reliable method to investigate the vibrational behavior of guest molecules in clathrate hydrates.     

Molecular dynamics study of the stability of methane structure H clathrate hydrates

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the stability of structure H (sH) methane clathrate hydrates in a 3 x 3 x 3 sH unit cell replica. Simulations are performed at experimental conditions of 300 K and 2 GPa for three methane intermolecular potentials. The five small cages of the sH unit cell are assigned methane guest occupancies of one and large cage guest occupancies of one to five are considered. Radial distribution functions, unit cell volumes, and configurational energies are studied as a function of large cage CH(4) occupancy. Free energy calculations are carried out to determine the stability of clathrates for large cage occupancies. Large cage occupancy of five is the most stable configuration for a Lennard-Jones united-atom potential and the Tse-Klein-McDonald potential parametrized for condensed methane phases and two for the most stable configuation for the Murad and Gubbins potential.     

Structural and dynamical properties of methane clathrate hydrates

Equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed in both the NVT and NPT ensembles to study the structural and dynamical properties of fully occupied methane clathrate hydrates at 50, 125, and 200 K. Five atomistic potential models were used for water, ranging from fully flexible to rigid polarizable and nonpolarizable. A flexible and a rigid model were utilized for methane. The phonon densities of states were evaluated and the localized rattling modes for the methane molecules were found to couple to the acoustic phonons of the host lattice. The calculated methane density of states was found to be in reasonable agreement with available experimental data.     

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.     

The nuclear magnetic resonance line shapes of Xe in the cages of clathrate hydrates

We report, for the first time, a prediction of the line shapes that would be observed in the (129)Xe nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of xenon in the cages of clathrate hydrates. We use the dimer tensor model to represent pairwise contributions to the intermolecular magnetic shielding tensor for Xe at a specific location in a clathrate cage. The individual tensor components from quantum mechanical calculations in clathrate hydrate structure I are represented by contributions from parallel and perpendicular tensor components of Xe-O and Xe-H dimers. Subsequently these dimer tensor components are used to reconstruct the full magnetic shielding tensor for Xe at an arbitrary location in a clathrate cage. The reconstructed tensors are employed in canonical Monte Carlo simulations to find the Xe shielding tensor component along a particular magnetic field direction. The shielding tensor component weighted according to the probability of finding a crystal fragment oriented along this direction in a polycrystalline sample leads to a predicted line shape. Using the same set of Xe-O and Xe-H shielding functions and the same Xe-O and Xe-H potential functions we calculate the Xe NMR spectra of Xe atom in 12 distinct cage types in clathrate hydrates structures I, II, H, and bromine hydrate. Agreement with experimental spectra in terms of the number of unique tensor components and their relative magnitudes is excellent. Agreement with absolute magnitudes of chemical shifts relative to free Xe atom is very good. We predict the Xe line shapes in two cages in which Xe has not yet been observed.     

On the thermodynamic stability of clathrate hydrates IV: double occupancy of cages

We have extended the van der Waals and Platteeuw theory to treat multiple occupancy of a single cage of clathrate hydrates, which has not been taken into account in the original theory but has been experimentally confirmed as a real entity. We propose a simple way to calculate the free energy of multiple cage occupancy and apply it to argon clathrate structure II in which a larger cage can be occupied by two argon atoms. The chemical potential of argon is calculated treating it as an imperfect gas, which is crucial to predict accurate pressure dependence of double occupancy expected at high pressure. It is found that double occupancy dominates over single occupancy when the guest pressure in equilibrium with the clathrate hydrate exceeds 270 MPa.     

Superexchange-like interaction of encaged molecular oxygen in nitrogen-doped water cages of clathrate hydrates

Clathrate hydrates are a highly prospective material in energy and environmental fields, but the inherent nature of inclusion phenomena occurring in the stacked water cages has not been completely resolved yet. Investigating the magnetism of guest molecules is a new experimental approach in clathrate hydrate research to open the possibility of icy magnetic applications as a novel material as well as to understand the unrevealed host-guest interactions in icy inclusion compounds. In this study, we observed an indirect spin coupling between encaged dioxygen molecules via a nonmagnetic water framework through the measurement of guest magnetization. This spin coupling is reminiscent of superexchange coupling between magnetic ions through intervening oxygens in antiferromagnetic oxides, such as MnO and CoO. Theoretical calculations revealed that OH(-) incorporated in the framework induced the mixing of perpendicular π* orbitals of two distant dioxygens and that ammonia doping into the hydrate cage leads to a longer lifetime of that orientation.     

Free energies of carbon dioxide sequestration and methane recovery in clathrate hydrates

Classical molecular dynamics simulations are used to compare the stability of methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and mixed CO(2)N(2) structure I (sI) clathrates under deep ocean seafloor temperature and pressure conditions (275 K and 30 MPa) which were considered suitable for CO(2) sequestration. Substitution of methane guests in both the small and large sI cages by CO(2) and N(2) fluids are considered separately to determine the separate contributions to the overall free energy of substitution. The structure I clathrate with methane in small cages and carbon dioxide in large cages is determined to be the most stable. Substitutions of methane in the small cages with CO(2) and N(2) have positive free energies. Substitution of methane with CO(2) in the large cages has a large negative free energy and substitution of the methane in the large cages with N(2) has a small positive free energy. The calculations show that under conditions where storage is being considered, carbon dioxide spontaneously replaces methane from sI clathrates, causing the release of methane. This process must be considered if there are methane clathrates present where CO(2) sequestration is to be attempted. The calculations also indicate that N(2) does not directly compete with CO(2) during methane substitution or clathrate formation and therefore can be used as a carrier gas or may be present as an impurity. Simulations further reveal that the replacement of methane with CO(2) in structure II (sII) cages also has a negative free energy. In cases where sII CO(2) clathrates are formed, only single occupancy of the large cages will be observed.     

Equilibrium conditions for clathrate hydrates formed from methane and aqueous propanol solutions

Equilibrium conditions for clathrate hydrates formed from methane and different concentrations of 1-propanol or 2-propanol aqueous solutions were experimentally determined at temperatures of 274.0–287.1 K and pressures up to 11.0 MPa. Each propanol has an inhibiting and/or promoting effect on hydrate formation depending on the propanol concentration. A structural transition from a structure I to a different hydrate structure occurred at concentrations between 3 and 5 mass% for 1-propanol and between 2 and 3 mass% for 2-propanol.     

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.     

Investigation of macroscopic interfacial dynamics between clathrate hydrates and surfactant solutions

Macroscopic interfacial interactions between cyclopentane (CP) hydrates and various surfactants droplets are examined in a CP/n-decane oil mixture. Initial contact force and subsequent z-axis dependent retraction force are measured utilizing a high-resolution microbalance integrated with a micrometer-precision stage. The resulting retraction force is utilized to determine the overall adhesion energy of the system. In addition, interfacial tensions and contact angles of the system are examined to further understand the effect of surface-active agents and substrates on the initial contact and retraction forces.     

Stability and reactivity of methane clathrate hydrates: insights from density functional theory

The sI methane clathrate hydrate consists of methane gas molecules encapsulated as dodecahedron (5(12)CH(4)) and tetrakaidecahedron (5(12)6(2)CH(4)) water cages. The characterization of the stability of these cages is crucial to an understanding of the mechanism of their formation. In the present work, we perform calculations using density functional theory to calculate interaction energies, free energies, and reactivity indices of these cages. The contributions from polarization functions to interaction energies is more than diffuse functions from Pople basis sets, though both functions from the correlation-consistent basis sets contribute significantly to interaction energies. The interaction energies and free energies show that the formation of the 5(12)CH(4) cage (from the 5(12) cage) is more favored compared to the 5(12)6(2)CH(4) cage (from the 5(12)6(2) cage). The pressure-dependent study shows a spontaneous formation of the 5(12)CH(4) cage at 273 K (P ≥ 77 bar) and the 5(12)6(2)CH(4) cage (P = 100 bar). The reactivity of the 5(12)CH(4) cage is similar to that of the 5(12) cage, but the 5(12)6(2)CH(4) cage is more reactive than the 5(12)6(2) cage.     

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.     

Thermodynamic studies of clathrate hydrates

Thermodynamic studies of clathrate hydrates, mainly of structures I and II, are considered in this review which is based on 147 references. There are two main subjects. The first is the host lattice energy and the guest-host interaction energy, both of these quantities being related to the enthalpy of dissociation and composition of the hydrates. The second subject concerns orientational ordering phenomena occurring in both host and guest, as reflected in the low temperature heat capacity. The classical theoretical treatment of clathrate formation has been reconsidered on the basis of recent experimental results. Particular emphasis has been given to orientational ordering since this topic is undoubtedly central to clarifying the nature of clathrate hydrates.Ausgehend von 147 Literaturangaben wurden in diesem Review thermodynamische Untersuchungen von Klathrathydraten hauptsächlich der Struktur I und II betrachtet. Es gibt zwei Hauptaugenmerke. Als erstes die Wirtsgitterenergie und die Gast-Wirt-Wechselwirkungsenergie, beide bezogen auf die Dissoziationsenthalpie und die Bildungsenthalpie der Hydrate. Das zweite Hauptaugenmerk betrifft Orientierungs-Konditionierungserscheinungen sowohl in Wirt als auch Gast, wie in den Wärmekapazitäten bei niedrigen Temperaturen widergespiegelt wird. Auf der Basis jüngster experimenteller Ergebnisse wurde die klassische theoretische Betrachtung über die Bildung von Klathraten überprüft. Der Orientierung-Konditionierung wurde besonderer Nachdruck verliehen, da dies zweifellos eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Klärung der Natur der Klathrathydrate spielt. 147 I II. . «» « — », . «» « », . . , .

---

Contribution No. 155 from the Chemical Thermodynamics Laboratory.     

Raman spectra of vibrational and librational modes in methane clathrate hydrates using density functional theory

The sI type methane clathrate hydrate lattice is formed during the process of nucleation where methane gas molecules are encapsulated in the form of dodecahedron (5(12)CH(4)) and tetrakaidecahedron (5(12)6(2)CH(4)) water cages. The characterization of change in the vibrational modes which occur on the encapsulation of CH(4) in these cages plays a key role in understanding the formation of these cages and subsequent growth to form the hydrate lattice. In this present work, we have chosen the density functional theory (DFT) using the dispersion corrected B97-D functional to characterize the Raman frequency vibrational modes of CH(4) and surrounding water molecules in these cages. The symmetric and asymmetric C-H stretch in the 5(12)CH(4) cage is found to shift to higher frequency due to dispersion interaction of the encapsulated CH(4) molecule with the water molecules of the cages. However, the symmetric and asymmetric O-H stretch of water molecules in 5(12)CH(4) and 5(12)6(2)CH(4) cages are shifted towards lower frequency due to hydrogen bonding, and interactions with the encapsulated CH(4) molecules. The CH(4) bending modes in the 5(12)CH(4) and 5(12)6(2)CH(4) cages are blueshifted, though the magnitude of the shifts is lower compared to modes in the high frequency region which suggests bending modes are less affected on encapsulation of CH(4). The low frequency librational modes which are collective motion of the water molecules and CH(4) in these cages show a broad range of frequencies which suggests that these modes largely contribute to the formation of the hydrate lattice.     

Nonstandard cages in the formation process of methane clathrate: stability, structure, and spectroscopic implications from first-principles

Endohedral CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) (n = 16, 18, 20, 22, 24) clusters with standard and nonstandard cage configurations containing four-, five-, six-, seven-membered rings were generated by spiral algorithm and were systematically explored using DFT-D methods. The geometries of all isomers were optimized in vacuum and aqueous solution. In vacuum, encapsulation of methane molecules can stabilize the hollow (H(2)O)(n) cage by 2.31~5.44 kcal/mol; but the endohedral CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) cages are still less stable than the pure (H(2)O)(n) clusters. Aqueous environment could promote the stabilities of the hollow (H(2)O)(n) cages as well as the CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) clusters, and the CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) clusters possess larger stabilization energies with regard to the pure (H(2)O)(n) clusters except for n = 24. The lowest energy structures of the CH(4)@(H(2)O)(20) and CH(4)@(H(2)O)(24) cages are identical to the building units in the crystalline sI clathrate hydrate. All of the low-energy cages (including both regular and irregular ones) have large structural similarity and can be connected by "dimer-insertion" operation and Stone-Wales transformation. Our calculation also showed that in the range of cluster size n = 16-24, the relative energies of cage isomers tend to decrease with increasing number of the adjacent pentagons in the oxygen skeleton structures. In addition to the regular endohedral CH(4)@(H(2)O)(20) and CH(4)@(H(2)O)(24) cage structures, some nonstandard CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) (n = 18, 20, 22, 24) cages have lower energies and might appear during nucleation process of methane hydrate. For the methane molecules in these low-energy cage isomers, we found that the C-H symmetric stretching frequencies show a red-shift trend and the (13)C NMR chemical shifts generally move toward negative values as the cavity size increases. These theoretical results are comparable to the available experimental data and might help experimental identification of the endohedral water cages during nucleation.     

Dynamic and thermodynamic properties of clathrate hydrates

Vibrational spectra and thermodynamic properties of ices and the cubic structure I (CS-I) clathrate hydrate have been studied by the lattice dynamics method. The phonon density of states for the empty hydrate framework and for xenon hydrate have been determined; the vibrational frequencies of the guest molecules in large and small cavities have been found. The stability of the hydrate with respect to the external pressure at low temperatures and its thermodynamic stability at temperatures around 0°C have been studied. It has been found that the empty hydrate framework is unstable in certain temperature and pressure regions. A definite degree of occupation of the large cavities by the guest molecules is necessary for the hydrate to become stable. It has been found that there is a maximum of the critical temperature at which the hydrate exists, which is a function of the external pressure.Dedicated to Dr. W. Davidson in honor of his great contributions to the sciences of inclusion phenomena.