Plasma-induced non-equilibrium liquid chemistry (PiLC) offers enhanced opportunities over solution chemistry for developing new nanomaterials and tailoring their functional properties. Recent advances in the design and scientific understanding of microplasma devices operating at atmospheric pressure offer simple and effective routes to non-equilibrium chemistry for both scientific study and future nanomanufacturing. This paper presents a short review of our recent work on atmospheric pressure plasma–liquid interactions used in the fabrication and functionalization of nanoparticles. A brief discussion of possible electron-liquid reactions highlights outstanding scientific and engineering questions.