{"paper":{"title":"Methane hydrate nucleation frustration and dimensional reduction of structural order under nanoconfinement","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"Nanoconfinement below 2 nm suppresses three-dimensional hydrate-like ordering in water-methane mixtures while promoting two-dimensional in-plane correlations.","cross_cats":[],"primary_cat":"cond-mat.mtrl-sci","authors_text":"\\'Angel M. Fern\\'andez-Fern\\'andez, Jose Torres-Arenas, Manuel M. Pi\\~neiro, Mart\\'in P\\'erez-Rodr\\'iguez","submitted_at":"2026-05-14T08:15:36Z","abstract_excerpt":"Methane hydrate nucleation under nanoconfinement remains poorly understood due to the complex interplay between geometric restriction and molecular ordering. Here, we investigate the structural organization of water-methane systems confined between silica planar slit pores with widths ranging from 1 to 5 nm and temperatures between 250 and 295 K. Three-dimensional radial distribution functions reveal a clear suppression of hydrate-like ordering at strong confinement (below 2 nm), indicating frustrated nucleation. In contrast, projected two-dimensional correlations exhibit pronounced in-plane s"},"claims":{"count":4,"items":[{"kind":"strongest_claim","text":"Three-dimensional radial distribution functions reveal a clear suppression of hydrate-like ordering at strong confinement (below 2 nm), indicating frustrated nucleation. In contrast, projected two-dimensional correlations exhibit pronounced in-plane structural organization, evidencing a confinement-induced reduction in the dimensionality of molecular order.","source":"verdict.strongest_claim","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C1","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"weakest_assumption","text":"That changes in radial distribution functions directly demonstrate frustrated nucleation and a true reduction in dimensionality of order, without independent experimental validation or checks against alternative interpretations of the structural metrics.","source":"verdict.weakest_assumption","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C2","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"one_line_summary","text":"Nanoconfinement below 2 nm in silica slits suppresses 3D hydrate-like ordering in water-methane systems while enhancing 2D in-plane structural correlations.","source":"verdict.one_line_summary","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C3","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"headline","text":"Nanoconfinement below 2 nm suppresses three-dimensional hydrate-like ordering in water-methane mixtures while promoting two-dimensional in-plane correlations.","source":"verdict.pith_extraction.headline","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C4","attestation":"unclaimed"}],"snapshot_sha256":"67a2fd8abdea9cf47a77824210c7a7a687c7bbbbfa8bd2c95d3703fb322d8874"},"source":{"id":"2605.14533","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":"db26ae68-a668-4473-b62c-2450aa68cda8","model_set":{"reader":"grok-4.3"},"created_at":"2026-05-15T01:32:46.592890Z","strongest_claim":"Three-dimensional radial distribution functions reveal a clear suppression of hydrate-like ordering at strong confinement (below 2 nm), indicating frustrated nucleation. In contrast, projected two-dimensional correlations exhibit pronounced in-plane structural organization, evidencing a confinement-induced reduction in the dimensionality of molecular order.","one_line_summary":"Nanoconfinement below 2 nm in silica slits suppresses 3D hydrate-like ordering in water-methane systems while enhancing 2D in-plane structural correlations.","pipeline_version":"pith-pipeline@v0.9.0","weakest_assumption":"That changes in radial distribution functions directly demonstrate frustrated nucleation and a true reduction in dimensionality of order, without independent experimental validation or checks against alternative interpretations of the structural metrics.","pith_extraction_headline":"Nanoconfinement below 2 nm suppresses three-dimensional hydrate-like ordering in water-methane mixtures while promoting two-dimensional in-plane correlations."},"references":{"count":20,"sample":[{"doi":"","year":2007,"title":"author author E. D. \\ Sloan \\ and\\ author C. Koh ,\\ @noop title Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases ,\\ edition 3rd \\ ed.,\\ Chemical Industries\\ ( publisher CRC Press ,\\ year 2007 ) NoStop","work_id":"6796b188-89ef-4f96-a02e-1c559dd0f375","ref_index":1,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":2011,"title":"editor M. D. \\ Max ,\\ ed.,\\ @noop title Natural Gas Hydrate in Oceanic and Permafrost Environments ,\\ edition 1st \\ ed.\\ ( publisher Springer Dordrecht ,\\ address Florida, USA ,\\ year 2011 ) NoStop","work_id":"9130baf0-70c8-4f1f-9082-c2637ef95620","ref_index":2,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.12.061","year":2014,"title":"author author Z. R. \\ Chong , author S. H. B. \\ Yang , author P. Babu , author P. Linga , \\ and\\ author X.-S. \\ Li ,\\ title title Review of natural gas hydrates as an energy resource: P rospects and c","work_id":"e506f387-1c94-4a85-bcdd-2e7d2d6d85de","ref_index":3,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"10.3390/en18040942","year":2025,"title":"Zhang , author S","work_id":"7e030b3d-a1b2-4285-846c-5a0679d07b58","ref_index":4,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"10.1021/jp2086544","year":2012,"title":"Bagherzadeh , author P","work_id":"f18d0b9d-f9b6-4916-b443-9f712c40d754","ref_index":5,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false}],"resolved_work":20,"snapshot_sha256":"b3abfcd8fcf5d4a12d26a3ac068e506deea0723d6dbd5cad346d048362f891ee","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}