MXene (Ti3C2Tx) as a Promising Substrate for Methane Storage via Enhanced Gas Hydrate Formation

Methane hydrate (MH) makes it possible to store methane using the cheapest and safest solvent: water. However, the sluggish formation kinetics hinders its practical utilization. Recently, the use of nanomaterials has been suggested as a potential solution; however, there is still a lack of high-efficiency kinetic promotors, and the promoting mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we demonstrated that MXene dispersion is promising for the storage of methane via MH with rapid formation kinetics, high storage capacity, and impressive cyclic stability. MXene can significantly shorten the induction time for MH formation. The enhanced kinetics was achieved by providing extra nucleation sites and enhancing thermal conductivity, although the increased surface tension of MXene dispersion could impede the MH formation via limited mass transfer. We confirmed that the concentration-dependent promoting effect of MXene dispersions results from regulating the assembly of water molecules. The insight of this work can apply to develop high-efficiency additives to control the formation kinetics of MH.