Hydrogen clathrate
Encyclopedia
A hydrogen clathrate is a clathrate containing hydrogen in water ice. This substance is interesting due to its possible use to store hydrogen
in a hydrogen economy
. Also interesting is that multiple hydrogen molecules can occur at each cage site in the ice. The maximum ration of hydrogen to water is 64 H2 to 136 H2O. It can be formed at 250K in a diamond anvil at a pressure of 300Mpa (300 Bars). It takes about 30 minutes to form, so this method is impractical for rapid manufacture. The percent of weight of hydrogen is 5.265%. The cage compartments are hexakaidecahedral and hold from two to four molecules of hydrogen. At temperatures above 160K the molecules rotate around inside the cage. Below 120K the molecules stop racing around the cage, and below 50K are locked into a fixed position. This was determined with deuterium in a neutron scattering experiment.
More complex clathrates can occur with hydrogen water and other molecules such as methane.
Since hydrogen and water ice are common constituents of the universe, it is very likely that under the right circumstances natural hydrogen clathrates will be formed. This could occur in icy moons for example. Hydrogen clathrate was likely to be formed in the high pressure nebulae that formed the gas giants, but not to have formed in comets.
Hydrogen storage
Hydrogen storage describes the methods for storing H2 for subsequent use. The methods span many approaches, including high pressures, cryogenics, and chemical compounds that reversibly release H2 upon heating...
in a hydrogen economy
Hydrogen economy
The hydrogen economy is a proposed system of delivering energy using hydrogen. The term hydrogen economy was coined by John Bockris during a talk he gave in 1970 at General Motors Technical Center....
. Also interesting is that multiple hydrogen molecules can occur at each cage site in the ice. The maximum ration of hydrogen to water is 64 H2 to 136 H2O. It can be formed at 250K in a diamond anvil at a pressure of 300Mpa (300 Bars). It takes about 30 minutes to form, so this method is impractical for rapid manufacture. The percent of weight of hydrogen is 5.265%. The cage compartments are hexakaidecahedral and hold from two to four molecules of hydrogen. At temperatures above 160K the molecules rotate around inside the cage. Below 120K the molecules stop racing around the cage, and below 50K are locked into a fixed position. This was determined with deuterium in a neutron scattering experiment.
More complex clathrates can occur with hydrogen water and other molecules such as methane.
Since hydrogen and water ice are common constituents of the universe, it is very likely that under the right circumstances natural hydrogen clathrates will be formed. This could occur in icy moons for example. Hydrogen clathrate was likely to be formed in the high pressure nebulae that formed the gas giants, but not to have formed in comets.