Preparation of gas hydrates by nonequilibrium condensation of molecular beams

Layers of amorphous ice saturated with carbon dioxide were prepared by the deposition of molecular beams of water and gas onto a substrate cooled with liquid nitrogen. Their heating is accompanied by glass transition (softening) and subsequent spontaneous crystallization. The glass transition and crystallization temperatures were determined from the change in dielectric properties during heating. The heat effects of the transformations were detected using differential thermal analysis. The crystallization of amorphous layers under conditions of deep metastability leads to the formation of crystalline hydrates. The avalanche nucleation of crystallization sites captures the gas molecules; therefore, they are not displaced by the movement of the crystallization front.