What are Clathrate Hydrates?
Clathrate hydrates are solid inclusion compounds in which guest molecules are trapped within a crystal structure of water and have many technical applications due to the ability to capture specific gas components. Clathrate hydrates form under certain temperature and pressure conditions in the presence of guest and host molecules. In particular, methane gas hydrate, which is a representative true clathrate, is often called "fiery ice" or "burning ice". The semiclathrates have many physical and structural properties in common with gas hydrates. The main difference is that, in gas hydrates, the guest molecules are not physically bonded to water lattices, while in semiclathrates, guest molecules can both form part of the host lattice and occupy cages after breaking part of the cage structure.