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Chinese brushes: From controllable liquid manipulation to template-free printing microlines

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Abstract

As a traditional writing instrument for calligraphy and painting, the Chinese brush has enjoyed a high reputation over the last 5,000 years due to its ability to controllably handle liquid ink, and has been widely used to deposit ink into certain characters or figures as a means of cultural communication. In this mini-review, we first show how the key to the controllable liquid transfer in a Chinese brush lies in the anisotropic multi-scale structural features of the freshly emergent hairs. Then, drawing inspiration from this, applications in controllable liquid pumping, highly efficient liquid transfer and template-free printing microlines are addressed. We envision that the fundamentals of Chinese brushes and their applications in liquid manipulation mentioned in this review may also be extended to other liquid phase functional material systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Energy Materials and Devices, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Qianbin Wang, Qingan Meng, Huan Liu & Lei Jiang

  2. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Lei Jiang

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  1. Qianbin Wang
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  2. Qingan Meng
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  3. Huan Liu
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  4. Lei Jiang
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Correspondence to Huan Liu.

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Wang, Q., Meng, Q., Liu, H. et al. Chinese brushes: From controllable liquid manipulation to template-free printing microlines. Nano Res. 8, 97–105 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0699-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0699-1

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