Thermodynamic stability of hydrogen hydrates of ice Ic and II structures

Abstract

The occupancy of hydrogen inside the voids of ice Ic and ice II, which gives two stable hydrogen hydrate compounds at high pressure and temperature, has been examined using a hybrid grand-canonical Monte Carlo simulation in wide ranges of pressure and temperature. The simulation reproduces the maximum hydrogen-to-water molar ratio and gives a detailed description on the hydrogen influence toward the stability of ice structures. A simple theoretical model, which reproduces the simulation results, provides a global phase diagram of two-component system in which the phase transitions between various phases can be predicted as a function of pressure, temperature, and chemical composition. A relevant thermodynamic potential and statistical-mechanical ensemble to describe the filled-ice compounds are discussed, from which one can derive two important properties of hydrogen hydrate compounds: the isothermal compressibility and the quantification of thermodynamic stability in term of the chemical potential. © 2010 The American Physical Society.