Nanostructural Approach to Proton Ordering in Gas Hydrate Cages

A nanostructural approach to analysis of proton ordering in gas hydrate cages has been worked out within the framework of the topological model of strong and weak H-bonds. The approach involves rejection of the periodic boundary conditions, decomposition of the H-bond net into spherical layers, and two-dimensional drawing of the structure of spherical (spheroidal) fragments in the form of conjugate Schlegel diagrams. To analyze proton ordering in the spherical fragments composed of gas hydrate voids, we used the simulated annealing procedure and the correlation extension method proposed earlier.