Crystal structure and encapsulation dynamics of ice II-structured neon hydrate

XH Yu and JL Zhu and SY Du and HW Xu and SC Vogel and JT Han and TC Germann and JZ Zhang and CQ Jin and JS Francisco and YS Zhao, PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 111, 10456-10461 (2014).

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1410690111

Neon hydrate was synthesized and studied by in situ neutron diffraction at 480 MPa and temperatures ranging from 260 to 70 K. For the first time to our knowledge, we demonstrate that neon atoms can be enclathrated in water molecules to form ice II-structured hydrates. The guest Ne atoms occupy the centers of D2O channels and have substantial freedom of movement owing to the lack of direct bonding between guest molecules and host lattices. Molecular dynamics simulation confirms that the resolved structure where Ne dissolved in ice II is thermodynamically stable at 480 MPa and 260 K. The density distributions indicate that the vibration of Ne atoms is mainly in planes perpendicular to D2O channels, whereas their distributions along the channels are further constrained by interactions between adjacent Ne atoms.

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