Conformal, transparent, and efficient MXene grid antennas for flexible wireless electronics
Next-generation internet of things (IoT) wireless electronics require antennas that are conformal, transparent, and electromagnetically efficient, yet these attributes form an impossible trinity. Here, we realize the first Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene–based conformal, transparent, and high-performance antenna through an optimized nanoimprint lithography-blading technique. Nanoimprinted MXene grid transparent conductive film (TCF) achieves an exceptional balance of low sheet resistance (4.32 ohms per square) at high transmittance (~89.1%) with promising flexibility. Two representative scenarios in IoT networks are selected to demonstrate the versatility of this TCF. For personal devices, the efficient MXene transparent dipole antenna enables a quasi-transparent wireless wearable device for long-distance and real-time communication (>30 meters). For fixed infrastructure, MXene-based digital coding metasurface enables high-quality wireless communication, maintaining a low bit error rate (~0.15%) even in a curved state. This work establishes MXene as a versatile platform that successfully merges conformal transparency and high electromagnetic performance, paving the way for next-generation imperceptible IoT wireless systems.
Authors
- Yubin Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8553-1430)
- Qiang Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6968-105X)
- Chuanfang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8663-3674)
- Chunjie Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7962-1904)
- Hengpei Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0878-6696)
- Jingyu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7909-9821)
- Z Xia
- Rui Jia
- Tianyue Xu
- Chendong Zhao
Institutions
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Sichuan University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2026-06-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aee8104
- Primary Topic
- Nanomaterials and Printing Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities