Aqueous dispersions of sermon clathrates

The state of water during the formation of xenon clathrates in water and aq ueous tert-butanol solutions is studied by the method of NMR relaxation. Xe non crystal hydrates in liquid water are shown to present structured system s where the dispersed phase is represented by clathrate crystals dispersed in liquid water. Clathrate nonuniformities (with characteristic sizes on th e order of several microns) are completely responsible for the relaxation o f liquid water protons. The modifying effect of tert-butanol on the dispers ions of xenon clathrates and the relaxation characteristics of water is dis cussed. The factors responsible for the disperse structure of the samples ( inhomogeneous contribution to the relaxation rate) are analyzed and approac hes to their estimation are singled out.