Vibrational spectra of deuterated methane and water molecules in structure I clathrate hydrate from ab initio MD simulation

Abstract

The deuteration of the lattice molecules in clathrate hydrates is a widely used experimental technique to clearly separate the vibrational modes. However, the effect of the deuteration on the vibrational spectra and molecular motions is not fully understood. Since the guest–host coupling may change the vibrational spectra, a detailed analysis of the vibrational spectra of deuterated clathrate hydrate is significant in the understanding of the mechanism of the vibrational shift. In this study, the vibrational spectra of the deuterated methane hydrates were calculated by ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. The intramolecular vibrational frequency of the methane in D₂O lattice and deuterated methane in H₂O lattice was calculated and compared with the pure methane hydrate. The bending, rocking and overtone of the bending mode was also reported. The effect of coupling of the rattling motions of guest and host molecules on the vibrational spectra was revealed.

Keywords::

• clathrate hydrates
• molecular vibration
• ab initio calculation
• molecular dynamics

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (Grant No. 25-5399).