Figure 1. The underwater Leidenfrost phenomenon.

(a,b) The snapshots illustrate formation of a levitated droplet (70 μl) when a flattened cold droplet (film) mounted on a colder Si substrate is exposed to a superheated plate at 300 °C (a), and flight of carbon fibres (0.03 g) induced by the Leidenfrost effect under water (5 ml) and emergence of a vapour film flowing upward (b) (scale bars, 1 cm). (c) The schematic shows that when nanochemistry occurs at the overheated zone, the formed nanoparticles assembled as nanoclusters erupt towards the much colder region for further growth. This tendency can be controlled and utilized for tailoring the size of the nanoparticles.