Molecular simulation of methane hydrate growth confined into a silica pore

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M., Conde, María M., Pérez-Sánchez, Germán, Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín, Piñeiro, Manuel M.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M.
Conde, María M.
Pérez-Sánchez, Germán
Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín
Piñeiro, Manuel M.
author_facet Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M.
Conde, María M.
Pérez-Sánchez, Germán
Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín
Piñeiro, Manuel M.
contents The growth of a methane hydrate seed within a silica slit pore of fixed width has been studied using AllAtom Molecular Dynamics (AA-MD). An AA force field has been used to describe the molecules of the solid silica substrate, with a-quartz crystalline structure. The crystallisation of hydrates in confined geometries is not well understood yet, and the objective of this work is to study the hydrate growth inside a silica pore using molecular simulation. Both NVT and NpT ensembles were used in the AA-MD simulations to analyse the hydrate growth from an initial seed. Results showed that the boundary conditions imposed by the nanometric slit pore yielded a hydrate with structural defects, filling the accessible space between the silica walls. The water molecules which were not incorporated to the initial seed hydrate formed a high density water layer trapped between the silica walls and the crystallised hydrate. These results provide an interesting insight into the hydrate crystallisation process in confined geometries, resembling those found in natural hydrate deposits.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_01329
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Molecular simulation of methane hydrate growth confined into a silica pore
Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M.
Conde, María M.
Pérez-Sánchez, Germán
Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín
Piñeiro, Manuel M.
Materials Science
Soft Condensed Matter
The growth of a methane hydrate seed within a silica slit pore of fixed width has been studied using AllAtom Molecular Dynamics (AA-MD). An AA force field has been used to describe the molecules of the solid silica substrate, with a-quartz crystalline structure. The crystallisation of hydrates in confined geometries is not well understood yet, and the objective of this work is to study the hydrate growth inside a silica pore using molecular simulation. Both NVT and NpT ensembles were used in the AA-MD simulations to analyse the hydrate growth from an initial seed. Results showed that the boundary conditions imposed by the nanometric slit pore yielded a hydrate with structural defects, filling the accessible space between the silica walls. The water molecules which were not incorporated to the initial seed hydrate formed a high density water layer trapped between the silica walls and the crystallised hydrate. These results provide an interesting insight into the hydrate crystallisation process in confined geometries, resembling those found in natural hydrate deposits.
title Molecular simulation of methane hydrate growth confined into a silica pore
topic Materials Science
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.01329