title: C-C stretching Raman spectra and stabilities of hydrocarbon molecules in natural gas hydrates: a quantum chemical study.
abstract: The presence of specific hydrocarbon gas molecules in various types of water cavities in natural gas hydrates (NGHs) are governed by the relative stabilities of these encapsulated guest molecule-water cavity combinations. Using molecular quantum chemical dispersion-corrected hybrid density functional computations, the interaction (ΔE(host--guest)) and cohesive energies (ΔE(coh)), enthalpies, and Gibbs free energies for the complexes of host water cages and hydrocarbon guest molecules are calculated at the ωB97X-D/6-311++G(2d,2p) level of theory. The zero-point energy effect of ΔE(host-guest) and ΔE(coh) is found to be quite substantial. The energetically optimal host-guest combinations for seven hydrocarbon gas molecules (CH4, C2H6, C3H6, C3H8, C4H8, i-C4H10, and n-C4H10) and various water cavities (D, ID, T, P, H, and I) in NGHs are found to be CH4@D, C2H6@T, C3H6@T, C3H8@T, C4H8@T/P/H, i-C4H10@H, and n-C4H10@H, as the largest cohesive energy magnitudes will be obtained with these host-guest combinations. The stabilities of various water cavities enclosing hydrocarbon molecules are evaluated from the computed cohesive Gibbs free energies: CH4 prefers to be trapped in a ID cage; C2H6 prefer T cages; C3H6 and C3H8 prefer T and H cages; C4H8 and i-C4H10 prefer H cages; and n-C4H10 prefer I cages. The vibrational frequencies and Raman intensities of the C-C stretching vibrational modes for these seven hydrocarbon molecules enclosed in each water cavity are computed. A blue shift results after the guest molecule is trapped from gas phase into various water cages due to the host-guest interactions between the water cage and hydrocarbon molecule. The frequency shifts to the red as the radius of water cages increases. The model calculations support the view that C-C stretching vibrations of hydrocarbon molecules in the water cavities can be used as a tool to identify the types of crystal phases and guest molecules in NGHs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, IFM, Linköping University , SE-58 183 Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ojamäe