Anisotropy in growth kinetics of tetrahydrofuran clathrate hydrate: a molecular dynamics study

The growth kinetics of a tetrahydrofuran (THF) clathrate hydrate at the interface between the clathrate and an aqueous THF solution were investigated by means of a molecular dynamic simulation. The simulation was carried out for the interface of both the {100} and {111} planes of the THF clathrate. The simulation indicated the same anisotropic growth as that observed in real systems: the growth of the THF clathrate was much slower at the {111} interface than at the {100} interface. When the THF clathrate grew, THF molecules that were dissolved in the solution first were arranged at both large and small cage sites on the interface. Subsequently, the formation of cages by H(2)O molecules occurred in regions surrounded or sandwiched by those arranged THF molecules. As the formation of cages progressed, the THF molecules that had once been arranged at small cage sites gradually moved away from the sites, and finally the structure of the clathrate was completely formed. Simulation results strongly suggested that the rate-determining process for clathrate growth was the rearrangement of THF molecules at the interface from a disordered state to a state in which THF molecules were ideally arranged at large cage sites only. This rearrangement occurred much more slowly at the {111} interface than at the {100} interface, owing to the formation of a modified structure in which large and small cages were formed at opposite positions of the {111} interface. The anisotropic growth kinetics of the THF clathrate, which were obtained in this study, are consistent with the fact that growth shapes of THF clathrates in real systems are octahedral with flat {111} planes.