Neutron Scattering Reveals Water Confined in a Watertight Bilayer Vesicle

Abstract

Water molecules confined in a nanocavity possess distinctly different characteristics from those in bulk, yet the preparation of such nanocavities is still a major experimental challenge. We report here self-assembled vesicle of an anionic perfluoroalkylated [60]fullerene, unique for its outstanding stability and water tightness, contains water not bound to the membranes. Small-angle neutron scattering revealed that a vesicle of 14-nm outer radius contains a 2-nm thick fullerene bilayer, inside of which is a 3-nm thick membrane-bound water, and unbound water in the 4-nm innermost cavity. The vesicle shows astonishingly low water permea-bility that is six to nine orders of magnitude smaller than that of a lipid vesicle. As a result, a single vesicle isolated on a substrate can retain the interior water in air or even under high vacuum, indicating that the vesicle cavity provides a new tool for physico-chemical studies of confined water as well as ions and molecules dissolved in it.