A Flexible and Transparent Wearable Antenna Developed with Liquid Dielectric and Polymer
Keywords:
Broadside, Conductive Fabric, Flexible Antennas, Monopole, Polydimethylsiloxane, Robust.Abstract
This article proposes the design and realisation of a conformal and transparent antenna compatible for wearable ap- plications. This new antenna utilises water, transparent polymer and conductive fabric for its design and realisation. The topology of the fabricated antenna is deformable and has broadside radiation pattern, thus, suitable for on-body applications which is validated through experimental investigations. The basic antenna comprises a monopole radiator backed by a dielectric reflector which directs the omnidirectional radiation of the monopole to broadside. The notable features of this new antenna are its excellent optical transparency, conformality, good bandwidth, gain and efficiency and the utilisation of easily accessible and bio- friendly materials. The center resonance frequency of the antenna is 2.45 GHz ISM band with 3.42 dB peak gain and 51% efficiency. The usability of the antenna for wearable applications is checked by on-phantom measurements, bending tests and investigating specific absorption rate (SAR). Due to its amazing optical transparency, structural deformability, radiation characteristics, size and ease of fabrication, this antenna is a promising candidate for flexible transparent electronic systems, including wearable body-area networks.
