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Design and fabrication of an E-shaped wearable textile antenna on PVB-coated hydrophobic polyester fabric

IOP Publishing
Smart Materials and Structures
Authors:
Satheesh Babu Roshni at Victoria University of Wellington
Satheesh Babu Roshni
Jayakrishnan M.P. at Grenoble INP, Université Grenoble Alpes, France.
Jayakrishnan M.P.
  • Grenoble INP, Université Grenoble Alpes, France.
Mohanan Pezholil at Cochin University of Science and Technology
Mohanan Pezholil
Surendran K. Peethambharan at National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology
Surendran K. Peethambharan
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Abstract and Figures

In this paper, we investigated the simulation and fabrication of an E-shaped microstrip patch antenna realized on multilayered polyester fabric suitable for WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) applications. The main challenges while designing a textile antenna were to provide adequate thickness, surface uniformity and water wettability to the textile substrate. Here, three layers of polyester fabric were stacked together in order to obtain sufficient thickness, and were subsequently dip coated with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) solution. The PVB-coated polyester fabric showed a hydrophobic nature with a contact angle of 91°. The RMS roughness of the uncoated and PVB-coated polyester fabric was about 341 nm and 15 nm respectively. The promising properties, such as their flexibility, light weight and cost effectiveness, enable effortless integration of the proposed antenna into clothes like polyester jackets. Simulated and measured results in terms of return loss as well as gain were showcased to confirm the usefulness of the fabricated prototype. The fabricated antenna successfully operates at 3.37 GHz with a return loss of 21 dB and a maximum measured gain of 3.6 dB.
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Design and fabrication of an E-shaped
wearable textile antenna on PVB-coated
hydrophobic polyester fabric
Satheesh Babu Roshni
1
, M P Jayakrishnan
2
, P Mohanan
2
and
Kuzhichalil Peethambharan Surendran
1
1
Materials Science and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and
Technology, Trivandrum 695019, India
2
Department of Electronics Engineering, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Kochi 682022 India
E-mail: kpsurendran@niist.res.in
Received 10 January 2017, revised 6 June 2017
Accepted for publication 28 June 2017
Published 1 September 2017
Abstract
In this paper, we investigated the simulation and fabrication of an E-shaped microstrip patch
antenna realized on multilayered polyester fabric suitable for WiMAX (Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access)applications. The main challenges while designing a
textile antenna were to provide adequate thickness, surface uniformity and water wettability to
the textile substrate. Here, three layers of polyester fabric were stacked together in order to obtain
sufficient thickness, and were subsequently dip coated with polyvinyl butyral (PVB)solution.
The PVB-coated polyester fabric showed a hydrophobic nature with a contact angle of 91°. The
RMS roughness of the uncoated and PVB-coated polyester fabric was about 341 nm and 15 nm
respectively. The promising properties, such as their flexibility, light weight and cost
effectiveness, enable effortless integration of the proposed antenna into clothes like polyester
jackets. Simulated and measured results in terms of return loss as well as gain were showcased to
confirm the usefulness of the fabricated prototype. The fabricated antenna successfully operates
at 3.37 GHz with a return loss of 21 dB and a maximum measured gain of 3.6 dB.
Keywords: screen-printed textile antennas, dielectric, patch antenna, conductive ink
(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)
Introduction
New generation wearable electronic devices help us to
improve the quality of our lives through continuous mon-
itoring of the wearer by enabling wireless communication
between the wearer and a nearby base station. Wearable
antennas are usually made by directly integrating antennas
into textile products like shirts and jackets. These days, textile
antennas are attracting much attention, particularly in the
areas of healthcare, defense, space, rescue operations, etc [1].
For example, in a network-centric battle field, soldiers are in
need of more compact and efficient antennas to communicate
with different wireless systems. There, a textile antenna plays
a vital role as it can act as an integral part of the soldier’s
outfit[2]. Textile antennas with additionally equipped
garments can provide live monitoring of the wearer’s health,
location and environment, thereby enhancing the safety of the
individual [3]. Ideally, such antennas should be light weight,
robust, inexpensive, planar, flexible and easily integrable in
radio frequency circuits [4].
Selecting a suitable fabric material with the desired
radiation characteristics is one of the major challenges in the
fabrication of a good quality textile antenna. Innovative
approaches are necessary in order to develop conformal tex-
tile antennas for wireless communication without causing any
inconvenience to the wearer. Providing sufficient thickness
for a textile substrate through multi layering is beneficial since
it minimizes the substrate leakage current, lowers the Q-factor
and enhances the bandwidth. The dielectric properties of the
textile substrate play a major role in antenna performance.
Smart Materials and Structures
Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (2017)105011 (8pp)https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-665X/aa7c40
0964-1726/17/105011+08$33.00 © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK1
... Flexible antennas commonly use textile materials with low dielectric constants (ɛr) to achieve wide bandwidth and optimal radiation performance. Among these, polyester fabric stands out due to its thinness, low cost, and superior comfort [3]. The advent of 5G has heightened the demand for high-performance wearable antennas, especially within the sub-6 GHz range. ...
... The advent of 5G has heightened the demand for high-performance wearable antennas, especially within the sub-6 GHz range. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has defined multiple frequency bands within the sub-6 GHz spectrum for Fifth Generation New Radio (5G-NR), enabling a wide range of 5G applications [3]. ...
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... Common substrates for flexible antennas include wool felt [5], [6], felt [3], [7], and felt textile [8], but these are typically thicker and more costly than fabric textiles. Polyester fabric is a preferred substrate for flexible wearable antennas due to its thinness and low dielectric constant, enhancing comfort and bandwidth performance [9]. ...
... The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has released several 5G New Radio (5G-NR) frequency bands in the sub-6 GHz range, with the 3.5 GHz band being particularly crucial due to its extensive use in medical, sports, education, and other applications [9]. ...
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... PVB is also applied in the development of smart and e-textiles. Roshni et al. [23] reported an example of a wearable PVB-coated textile antenna, obtaining a thin, flexible, and water-resistant product that can be potentially integrated into new-generation clothing. In addition, examples of blends of PVB with inorganic nanoparticles to produce antibacterial coatings on textiles can be found in the literature [8,24,25]. ...
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