Dispersion Forces Stabilise Ice Coatings at Certain Gas Hydrate Interfaces Which Prevent Water Wetting

Gas hydrates formed in oceans and permafrost occur in vast quantities on Earth representing both a massive potential fuel source and a large threat in climate forecasts. They have been predicted to be important on other bodies in our solar systems such as Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.

CO2-hydrates likely drive the massive gas-rich water plumes seen and sampled by the spacecraft Cassini, and the source of these hydrates is thought to be due to buoyant gas hydrate particles. Dispersion forces cause gas hydrates to be coated in a 3-4 nm thick film of ice, or to contact water directly, depending on which gas they contain. These films are shown to significantly alter the properties of the gas hydrate clusters, for example, whether they float or sink. It is also expected to influence gas hydrate growth and gas leakage.

Mathias Boström, Robert Corkery, Eduardo Lima, Oleksandr Malyi, Stefan Y. Buhmann, Clas Persson, Iver Brevik, Drew F. Parsons, Johannes Fiedler
(Submitted on 13 Apr 2019)

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.9b00019
Cite as: arXiv:1904.06557 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1904.06557v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Johannes Fiedler
[v1] Sat, 13 Apr 2019 14:39:43 UTC (745 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.06557
Astrobiology