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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Torres-Arenas, Jose, Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M., Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín, Piñeiro, Manuel M.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.14533
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author Torres-Arenas, Jose
Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M.
Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín
Piñeiro, Manuel M.
author_facet Torres-Arenas, Jose
Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M.
Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín
Piñeiro, Manuel M.
contents 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.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_14533
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Methane hydrate nucleation frustration and dimensional reduction of structural order under nanoconfinement
Torres-Arenas, Jose
Fernández-Fernández, Ángel M.
Pérez-Rodríguez, Martín
Piñeiro, Manuel M.
Materials Science
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.
title Methane hydrate nucleation frustration and dimensional reduction of structural order under nanoconfinement
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.14533