Long read range graphene-based antenna on paper substrates for RFID applications

Abstract

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is a key enabler of the green Internet of Things (IoT). In recent years, green RFID systems have emerged as sustainable solutions to support various IoT applications that require low-power and cost-effective devices while minimizing environmental impact. However, most existing passive ultra high frequency (UHF) RFID tags operating in the 860 MHz-960 MHz band largely rely on metallic conductors and polymeric substrates, such as copper, aluminum, silver, and polyimide, for antenna fabrication. The use of these materials limits the sustainability of the resulting devices. Therefore, there is a growing need to develop eco-friendly and high-performance tag antennas that meet the requirements of future sustainable digital technologies. In this work, a folded dipole antenna is fabricated using a highly conductive graphene sheet on three different paper substrates, including pristine paper (PP) and two in-house manufactured planarized paper substrates with different surface finishing. The antenna has been designed and realized based on measured properties of graphene sheet and paper substrates that helps to achieve a long read range compared to existing graphene sheet and paper based UHF tag. The performance of three developed graphene sheet-based tags is evaluated by attaching them to cardboard and plastic boxes and measuring their response using a fixed-position JADAK ThingMagic M6e RFID reader. The developed tag based on PP demonstrates the highest read range of up to 7.2 m when attached to the cardboard in an indoor environment, while the tag realized using planarized paper substrates with different surface finishing achieves read ranges of 4.8 m and 4.2 m.