Compact and Low-Profile UWB Antenna Based on Graphene-Assembled Films for Wearable Applications
1
Hubei Engineering Research Center of RF-Microwave Technology and Application, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
2
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2020, 20(9), 2552; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20092552
Received: 2 March 2020
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Revised: 24 April 2020
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Accepted: 25 April 2020
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Published: 30 April 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Wearables)
In this article, a graphene-assembled film (GAF)-based compact and low-profile ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) antenna is presented and tested for wearable applications. The highly conductive GAFs (~106 S/m) together with the flexible ceramic substrate ensure the flexibility and robustness of the antenna, which are two main challenges in designing wearable antennas. Two H-shaped slots are introduced on a coplanar-waveguide (CPW) feeding structure to adjust the current distribution and thus improve the antenna bandwidth. The compact GAF antenna with dimensions of 32 52 0.28 mm3 provides an impedance bandwidth of 60% (4.3–8.0 GHz) in simulation. The UWB characteristics are further confirmed by on-body measurements and show a bending insensitive bandwidth of ~67% (4.1–8.0 GHz), with the maximum gain at 7.45 GHz being 3.9 dBi and 4.1 dBi in its flat state and bent state, respectively. Our results suggest that the proposed antenna functions properly in close proximity to a human body and can sustain repetitive bending, which make it well suited for applications in wearable devices.
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Keywords:
graphene-assembled film; UWB; CPW; wearable antenna
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MDPI and ACS Style
Fang, R.; Song, R.; Zhao, X.; Wang, Z.; Qian, W.; He, D. Compact and Low-Profile UWB Antenna Based on Graphene-Assembled Films for Wearable Applications. Sensors 2020, 20, 2552. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20092552
AMA Style
Fang R, Song R, Zhao X, Wang Z, Qian W, He D. Compact and Low-Profile UWB Antenna Based on Graphene-Assembled Films for Wearable Applications. Sensors. 2020; 20(9):2552. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20092552
Chicago/Turabian StyleFang, Ran, Rongguo Song, Xin Zhao, Zhe Wang, Wei Qian, and Daping He. 2020. "Compact and Low-Profile UWB Antenna Based on Graphene-Assembled Films for Wearable Applications" Sensors 20, no. 9: 2552. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20092552
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