Effective Energy Transfer via Plasmon-Activated High-Energy Water Promotes Its Fundamental Activities of Solubility, Ionic Conductivity, and Extraction at Room Temperature

Chih-Ping Yang; Hsiao-Chien Chen; Ching-Chiung Wang; Po-Wei Tsai; Chia-Wen Ho; Yu-Chuan Liu

doi:10.1038/srep18152

Effective Energy Transfer via Plasmon-Activated High-Energy Water Promotes Its Fundamental Activities of Solubility, Ionic Conductivity, and Extraction at Room Temperature

Sci Rep. 2015 Dec 10:5:18152. doi: 10.1038/srep18152.

Authors

Chih-Ping Yang¹, Hsiao-Chien Chen², Ching-Chiung Wang³, Po-Wei Tsai³, Chia-Wen Ho⁴, Yu-Chuan Liu^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate Institute of Medical Science, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
² Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
³ School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
⁴ Center for Cancer Research, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
⁵ Biomedical Mass Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan.

Abstract

Water is a ubiquitous solvent in biological, physical, and chemical processes. Unique properties of water result from water's tetrahedral hydrogen-bonded (HB) network (THBN). The original THBN is destroyed when water is confined in a nanosized environment or localized at interfaces, resulting in corresponding changes in HB-dependent properties. In this work, we present an innovative idea to validate the reserve energy of high-energy water and applications of high-energy water to promote water's fundamental activities of solubility, ionic conductivity, and extraction at room temperature. High-energy water with reduced HBs was created by utilizing hot electrons with energies from the decay of surface plasmon excited at gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs). Compared to conventional deionized (DI) water, solubilities of alkali metal-chloride salts in high-energy water were significantly increased, especially for salts that release heat when dissolved. The ionic conductivity of NaCl in high-energy water was also markedly higher, especially when the electrolyte's concentration was extremely low. In addition, antioxidative components, such as polyphenols and 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-d-glucoside (THSG) from teas, and Polygonum multiflorum (PM), could more effectively be extracted using high-energy water. These results demonstrate that high-energy water has emerged as a promising innovative solvent for promoting water's fundamental activities via effective energy transfer.