Manipulation of low-dimensional nanomaterials using water meniscus

This paper reports on a colloidal manipulation of low-dimensional nanomaterials such as nanoparticles and nanowires. This colloidal manipulation enables the arrangement of nanoparticles and nanowires on a substrate with controlled location and orientation. The conducted research includesthe study of conditions such as the water contact angle by surface treatment and the nanowire length for the optimized colloidal manipulation of nanomaterials. The measured minimum water contact angle, required to drive gold nanoparticles, is 50° on top of a Teflon-coated surface. Further, the required maximum length of the nanowires to be driven by the meniscus overcoming friction between the nanowires and the surface is on the order of 1 micron.