Chinese chemists develop 'water-jet' printer

A team of Chinese chemists have come up with a water-jet printer.

The printer, which is developed by researchers from Jilin University, takes a blank page and covers it with print by using water, China Daily reported.

Although the printed text will fade within 22 hours, Zhang Xiao'an, professor and leader of the team, said that 40 percent of printed pages are thrown away after being read only once anyway.

The printer, which can switch between water and ink in case the user wants a more permanent print, allows one page to be reprinted dozens of times and can help offices save money on paper.

The paper used for printing is treated with an invisible dye that becomes visible when exposed to water and as the dye slowly fades over time, higher temperatures causes it to fade more quickly.

Zhang added that as per his team's calculation, dye-treating the paper that is generally used for printing adds only 5 percent to the price and is very cheap and also environmentally friendly.