Novel cooperative interactions and structural ordering in H ₂S-H ₂

Hydrogen sulfide (H ₂S) and hydrogen (H ₂) crystallize into a 'guest-host' structure at 3.5 GPa and, at the initial formation pressure, the rotationally disordered component molecules exhibit weak van der Waals-type interactions. With increasing pressure, hydrogen bonding develops and strengthens between neighboring H ₂S molecules, reflected in a pronounced drop in S-H vibrational stretching frequency and also observed in first-principles calculations. At 17 GPa, an ordering process occurs where H ₂S molecules orient themselves to maximize hydrogen bonding and H ₂ molecules simultaneously occupy a chemically distinct lattice site. Intermolecular forces in the H ₂S+H ₂ system may be tuned with pressure from the weak hydrogen-bonding limit to the ordered hydrogen-bonding regime, resulting in a novel clathrate structure stabilized by cooperative interactions.