Clathrate compound
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A clathrate or clathrate compound is a type of inclusion compound in which a guest atom, ion, or molecule is enclosed in a cage-like cavity formed by a host molecule or by an extended host lattice. Th
Methane clathrate embedded in sediment from Hydrate Ridge off the coast of Oregon, United States.
Methane clathrate
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Methane clathrate or, also called methane hydrate, hydromethane, methane ice, fire ice, natural gas hydrate, methane gas, or gas hydrate, is a solid clathrate compound in which a large amount of metha
Clathrate compound
…only some cages, influence phase stability, scatter phonons, or provide charge balance. Clathrates are therefore relevant to host–guest chemistry, methane hydrates, gas storage and separation, thermoelectric materials, superconductivity, and synthetic phases formed under unusual or extreme conditions. clathrates…
"Burning ice". Methane, released by heating, burns; water drips. Inset: clathrate structure (University of Göttingen, GZG. Abt. Kristallographie). Source: United States Geological Survey.
microscope image
Methane hydrate phase diagram. The horizontal axis shows temperature from −15 to 33 °C, the vertical axis shows pressure from 0 to 120,000 kilopascals (0 to 1,184 atmospheres). Hydrate forms above the line. For example, at 4 °C hydrate forms above a pressure of about 50 atm/5000 kPa, found at about 500 m sea depth.
Gas hydrate-bearing sediment, from the subduction zone off Oregon