Abstract Comparative study of water confined in highly disperse and porous adsorbents and bioobjects by 1H NMR spectroscopy and thermally stimulated depolarisation current (TSDC) methods at T 200 K; (iii) protons and ions resulting in direct current (dc) relaxation (TSDC) at T > 210–220 K. According to the 1H NMR spectra recorded on layer-by-layer freezing-out of bulk and interfacial waters bound in solid adsorbents and bioobjects, there are four types of confined water attributed to strongly (ΔG − 1 kJ/mol) bound and strongly (δH = 4–5 ppm) and weakly (δH = 1–2 ppm) associated waters. Several factors such as structural, textural and morphological characteristics of adsorbents and bioobjects, partial hydrophilic/hydrophobic surface functionalisation of adsorbents, amounts of water and other co-adsorbates (organic solvents, ions, etc.) affect contributions of the mentioned types of bound water.