Lipid bilayer tethered inside a nanoporous support: a solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance investigation

31P and 1H solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments have been designed with the aim of studying directly the formation of supported bilayers tethered inside nanoporous aluminum oxide supports as a model of biomimetic membranes. The static and magic angle spinning 31P NMR spectra of the supported bilayers have been compared with the experimental and simulated spectra of a simpler model with cylindrical geometry, namely a phospholipid bilayer adsorbed on an oriented polymer sheet. The broadening observed for the nanoporous model is most likely due to the presence of paramagnetic ions in the aluminum oxide. A phospholipid lateral diffusion coefficient of (2.8 ± 0.4) × 10−8 cm2/s has been measured for the tethered bilayer on a spherical support, indicating a good fluidity as compared with adsorbed membrane models.