Evaluation of a low-cost inkjet printed slot antenna for energy harvesting applications

This paper deals with the functionality of an inkjet printed slot antenna for radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting application. The antenna is printed on a paper substrate using an off the shelf inkjet printer with cartridges containing nano particle silver ink. The RF performance of the printed antenna is assessed, and compared with another antenna fabricated using conventional etching methods. The reflection coefficient characteristics of the two antennas are very similar. A Power Cast radio frequency (RF) power transfer and energy harvesting system is employed for the final evaluation of the antennas. The inkjet printed antenna is able to harvest a good amount of RF power, though less than the equivalent copper etched antenna on Mylar substrate. The antennas operate at the 915MHz UHF ISM band. Finite-difference-time-domain simulations compare well with test results.

[1]  Hamid Jabbar,et al.  RF energy harvesting system and circuits for charging of mobile devices , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics.

[2]  Hoseon Lee,et al.  Monopole Antenna With Inkjet-Printed EBG Array on Paper Substrate for Wearable Applications , 2012, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[3]  John C. Batchelor,et al.  Inkjet printing of frequency selective surfaces , 2009 .

[4]  Gregory D. Abowd,et al.  Instant inkjet circuits: lab-based inkjet printing to support rapid prototyping of UbiComp devices , 2013, UbiComp.

[5]  Sangkil Kim,et al.  Inkjet-printed RF energy harvesting and wireless power trasmission devices on paper substrate , 2013, 2013 European Microwave Conference.

[6]  G. Shaker,et al.  Inkjet Printing of Ultrawideband (UWB) Antennas on Paper-Based Substrates , 2011, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[7]  Leandro Lorenzelli,et al.  Technologies for Printing Sensors and Electronics Over Large Flexible Substrates: A Review , 2015, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[8]  V. Lakafosis,et al.  Paper-Based RFID-Enabled Wireless Platforms for Sensing Applications , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[9]  P. D. Mitcheson,et al.  Ambient RF Energy Harvesting in Urban and Semi-Urban Environments , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[10]  S. Beeby,et al.  Inkjet-Printed Microstrip Patch Antennas Realized on Textile for Wearable Applications , 2014, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[11]  J. D. Krauss.  Antennas For All Applications , 1950 .

[12]  K. Mayaram,et al.  Efficient Far-Field Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting for Passively Powered Sensor Networks , 2008, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[13]  Yoshihiro Kawahara,et al.  Building Functional Prototypes Using Conductive Inkjet Printing , 2014, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[14]  Steve Beeby,et al.  Inkjet printed dipole antennas on textiles for wearable communications , 2013 .