1996.01.18《Role of Hydration and water structure in biological and colloidal interactions》

在《Nature》发表的研究中，围绕水化作用与界面水结构在生物及胶体相互作用中的核心作用，针对传统 DLVO 理论难以解释的短程强排斥与界面稳定性问题，提出了具有开创性的界面水结构理论框架。该工作首次从分子尺度指出，界面附近高度有序排列的水分子不仅是被动存在的溶剂背景，更能够作为调控生物膜、胶体颗粒及软物质界面相互作用的主导因素，将“界面水”确立为独立且关键的相互作用来源。依托高精度表面力测量、热力学分析与界面结构解析，该研究进一步显示，在纳米尺度上，受限水分子形成高度有序的水化层，产生显著的短程水化力，其作用范围、强度及衰减行为呈现出明显的非 DLVO 特征，且与界面亲水性、离子环境及分子排列状态密切相关。该水化作用不仅主导生物膜稳定性和胶体分散行为，还对分子识别、润滑及界面输运等过程发挥关键调控作用，首次从实验上将界面水结构、热力学稳定性与界面相互作用建立了定量联系。总体而言，该研究突破了传统将水视为连续介质的经典框架，提出并证实了“结构化界面水参与界面作用”的核心概念，其水化力理论迅速成为生物界面、软物质、胶体稳定性及分子自组装领域的核心理论，对理解细胞膜相互作用、蛋白质组装及纳米界面力学机制产生深远影响，是界面科学与生物物理研究中具有奠基意义的经典工作。

作者： Jacob Israelachvili & Håkan Wennerström

In a study published in Nature, the authors systematically investigated the central role of hydration and interfacial water structure in biological and colloidal interactions, addressing the longstanding inability of traditional DLVO theory to explain short-range strong repulsion and interface stability. They proposed a pioneering theoretical framework for interfacial water structure. For the first time at the molecular scale, the work demonstrated that the highly ordered water molecules near interfaces are not passive solvent, but a dominant factor controlling interactions among biological membranes, colloidal particles, and soft matter, fundamentally establishing “interfacial water” as an independent and critical source of interfacial interactions. Leveraging high-precision surface force measurements, thermodynamic analysis, and interfacial structural characterization, the study further revealed that at nanometer scale, confined water molecules form highly ordered hydration layers, generating pronounced short-range hydration forces with clear non-DLVO characteristics, dependent on interfacial hydrophilicity, ionic environment, and molecular ordering. These hydration forces govern the biological membrane stability, colloidal dispersions, molecular recognition, lubrication, and interfacial transport, establishing a quantitative connection for the first time among interfacial water structure, thermodynamic stability, and interfacial interactions. Overall, this study breaks through the classical continuum of water, proposing and validating the concept that “structured interfacial water actively mediates interactions.” The hydration force theory has become a central paradigm to understanding biological interfaces, soft matter, colloidal stability, and molecular self-assembly, profoundly impacting of membrane interactions, protein assembly, and nanoscale interfacial mechanics. It represents a foundational and highly influential contribution to the fields of interface science and biophysics.

Authors：Jacob Israelachvili & Håkan Wennerström

Role of Hydration and water structure in biological and colloidal interactions