Novel luminescent BaCO3 nanowires have been successfully synthesized in the presence of mixed additives of a phosphonated copolymer and an organic dye. The nanowires show a time-dependent self-assembly into various microstructures over different length scales. With the combination of a microcontact printing technique, the selective growth of uniform NWs was achieved through application of substrates with different wettability and roughness. In this strategy, microstructures, location and growth orientation of BaCO3 NWs are well controlled. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.