Uniformly Dispersed Deposition of Colloidal Nanoparticles and Nanowires by Boiling

Uniformly dispersed deposition of various nanoparticles (gold and silver of 20?50 nm) and nanowires (ZnO and VOx) on different surfaces (Si, GaAs, mica, and steel) was obtained by boiling colloid drops on preheated substrates. Our results suggest a deposition mechanism based on the formation of microdrops induced by boiling. Indeed, microdrops produced by an ink-jet printing system resulted in uniformly dispersed deposits when the substrate was heated to high temperatures. We demonstrate that boil-deposited gold nanoparticles could be used for the catalytic growth of ZnO nanowires as well as for the manipulation of individual particles by means of an atomic force microscope.