Creating functional water by treating excited gold nanoparticles for the applications of green chemistry, energy and medicine: A review

The strength of hydrogen bonds (HBs) decides water's properties and activities. It is recognized that the properties of confined liquid water, or liquid water in contact with hydrophobic surfaces, significantly differ from those of bulk liquid water. However, these unique properties of water are only found within the interfacial phase and a confined environment; thus, their applications are limited. Nowadays, environmentally friendly science, health and energy are main concerns in the world. In this review, an innovative and facile method for preparing mass-produced plasmon-activated water (PAW) with reduced HBs by letting bulk water flow through gold-supported nanoparticles (AuNPs) under resonant illumination at constant temperature is reported. The resulting stable PAW exhibits distinct properties and activities, which significantly differ from those of untreated bulk water. In addition, this PAW has the obvious advantages in environmentally friendly science, green energy, water saving and medicine.