Dispersion forces stabilise ice coatings at certain gas hydrate interfaces which prevent water wetting

Abstract

Gas hydrates formed in oceans and permafrost occur in vast quantities on Earth representing both a massive potential fuel source and a large threat in climate forecasts. They have been predicted to be important on other bodies in our solar systems such as Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. CO${}_2$-hydrates likely drive the massive gas-rich water plumes seen and sampled by the spacecraft Cassini, and the source of these hydrates is thought to be due to buoyant gas hydrate particles. Dispersion forces cause gas hydrates to be coated in a 3-4 nm thick film of ice, or to contact water directly, depending on which gas they contain. These films are shown to significantly alter the properties of the gas hydrate clusters, for example, whether they float or sink. It is also expected to influence gas hydrate growth and gas leakage.

References in corpus (2)

• Effects of van der Waals forces and salt ions on the growth of water films on ice and the detachment of CO${}_2$ bubbles
• The influence of Lifshitz forces and gas on premelting of ice within porous materials

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Lifshitz theory of wetting films at three phase coexistence: The case of ice nucleation on Silver Iodide (AgI)
• Self-preserving ice layers on CO2 clathrate particles: implications for Enceladus, Pluto and similar ocean worlds
• Non-trivial retardation effects in dispersion forces: From anomalous distance dependence to novel traps