Chinese brushes: controllable liquid transfer in ratchet conical hairs.

Wang, Qianbin; Su, Bin; Liu, Huan; Jiang, Lei · Adv Mater · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The controllable liquid transfer of a Chinese brush is attributable to the unique anisotropic multi-scale structures of the freshly emergent hairs. A large mass of liquid an be dynamically balanced within the brush as a cooperative effect of the Laplace pressure difference, the asymmetrical retention force, and gravity. Inspired by this, a device is developed with parallel hairs that allows for direct writing of micro-lines.

Medical subject headings