Uniformly distributed PbTiO3 nanodots were successfully prepared by phase separation approach. A precursor sol film was first spin-coated on Si wafer and then spontaneously separated into two distinct phases owing to the Marangoni instability. PT nanodots with tailorable size and density were obtained after further heat treatment. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that these nanodots showed a perovskite structure. An excellent room temperature field emission property of PbTiO3 nanodots was observed: the minimum turn-on voltage was about 5.3 V/mu m; while the emission current density reached about 270 mu A cm (2) at an applied field of about 9.25 V/mu m. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.