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arXiv · 2605.14533

Methane hydrate nucleation frustration and dimensional reduction of structural order under nanoconfinement

Jose Torres-Arenas·Ángel M. Fernández-Fernández·Martín Pérez-Rodríguez·Manuel M. Piñeiro
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Abstract

Methane hydrate nucleation under nanoconfinement remains poorly understood due to the complex interplay between geometric restriction and molecular ordering. Here, we investigate the structural organization of water-methane systems confined between silica planar slit pores with widths ranging from 1 to 5 nm and temperatures between 250 and 295 K. Three-dimensional radial distribution functions reveal a clear suppression of hydrate-like ordering at strong confinement (below 2 nm), indicating frustrated nucleation. In contrast, projected two-dimensional correlations exhibit pronounced in-plane structural organization, evidencing a confinement-induced reduction in the dimensionality of molecular order.

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Jose Torres-Arenas, Ángel M. Fernández-Fernández, Martín Pérez-Rodríguez, Manuel M. Piñeiro. 2026-05-14. Methane hydrate nucleation frustration and dimensional reduction of structural order under nanoconfinement. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.14533

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