Structure and dynamics of water near hydrophilic surfaces

Water is essential for the stability and function of biological macromolecules. In living systems, essential water-related phenomena occur in restricted geometries in cells, and at active sites of proteins and membranes or at their surface. In this review paper, we present the more recent up to date account of the structure and dynamics of water confined in pores of porous glass and at surface of a soluble globular protein. The experimental results obtained by neutron scattering are compared with that of bulk water. Some realistic picture of room temperature interfacial water in terms of some increase of the extension of II-bond network of water as it occurs in supercooled water at a temperature 25 K lower is proposed.