Performance of Screen-Printed Wearable Antennas

As the wearable industry continues to grow, body centric wearable systems are gaining interest for healthcare and military applications. Despite this growth, integrating wireless communication into flexible textile substrates remains to be an ongoing challenge. In this study, the performance of various screen-printed wearable patch antennas on different textiles is investigated. The textiles considered are 100% Cotton Twill, 65/35% Polyester-Cotton, 82/18% Spandex-Nylon and 100% Spandex. To ensure consistency, the ACI Silver Conductor Ink (FS0142) is used for all screen-printed antennas. The investigated performance parameters are the return loss, gain and radiation pattern. Further, the durability of each antenna is tested by a wash study, stretch and heat test.