Clathrate Hydrates

Abstract

Clathrate hydrates are a class of crystalline solids which have increasing relations to energy technology and environmental sciences. Fluorocarbon hydrates as cool storage media for residential air conditioning, CO₂ hydrate to be formed by disposing fossil-fuel-originated CO₂ into deep oceans, and methane hydrate as a potential energy resource and/or a source of increasing global warming are among principal examples of such clathrate hydrates. This article gives a historical survey of clathrate-hydrate research, introductory descriptions of molecular structures and phase equilibria of clathrate hydrates, and the status of our current knowledge on the behavior of clathrate-hydrate formation at liquid-liquid or liquid-vapor interfaces.