title: Bio-inspired direct patterning functional nanothin microlines: controllable liquid transfer.
abstract: Developing a general and low-cost strategy that enables direct patterning of microlines with nanometer thickness from versatile liquid-phase functional materials and precise positioning of them on various substrates remains a challenge. Herein, with inspiration from the oriental wisdom to control ink transfer by Chinese brushes, we developed a facile and general writing strategy to directly pattern various functional microlines with homogeneous distribution and nanometer-scale thickness. It is demonstrated that the width and thickness of the microlines could be well-controlled by tuning the writing method, providing guidance for the adaptation of this technique to various systems. It is also shown that various functional liquid-phase materials, such as quantum dots, small molecules, polymers, and suspensions of nanoparticles, could directly write on the substrates with intrinsic physicochemical properties well-preserved. Moreover, this technique enabled direct patterning of liquid-phase materials on certain microdomains, even in multiple layered style, thus a microdomain localized chemical reaction and the patterned surface chemical modification were enabled. This bio-inspired direct writing device will shed light on the template-free printing of various functional micropatterns, as well as the integrated functional microdevices.
authors.affiliation: †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, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qianbin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: †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, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qingan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: †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, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pengwei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: †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, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: †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, People's Republic of China.|‡Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
keywords: bio-inspired; direct writing; microlines; nanothin