Water dissolves the polymer film and lifts off the conductive film in the unabraded areas.
Adam D. Printz, Esther Chan, Celine Liong, René S. Martinez, Darren J. Lipomi 2013, 'Photoresist-Free Patterning by Mechanical Abrasion of Water-Soluble Lift-Off Resistsand Bare Substrates: Toward Green Fabrication of Transparent Electrodes', PLoS ONE10.1371/journal.pone.0083939. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)