Recent progress of vibrational spectroscopic study on the interfacial structure of biomimetic membranes

Understanding the molecular structure of biological membranes and their dynamic hydration information at the molecular level will provide great insights into the interaction mechanisms and the function of biological membranes. However, it is still unattainable for many techniques because of the high complexity of the natural biological membranes caused by multi-components including phospholipid, protein, cholesterol, peptidoglycan and polysaccharide as well as the different location and distribution of each component. The development and application of biomimetic membranes largely overcome the complexity of the natural biological membranes and greatly stimulate the study of membrane interfaces. Vibrational spectroscopy, which relies on the interaction of light and matter, is a powerful technology for in-situ and real-time exploring the structure and hydration of biomimetic membranes interface. Based on the progress of the vibrational spectroscopy technology, the molecular structure and interface hydration information of biomimetic membranes have been continually revealed. In this study, we reviewed the research on the structural characteristics of different biomimetic membrane systems using vibrational spectroscopy in recent years, as well as a prospect for its development.