A gravure printed antenna on shape-stable transparent nanopaper

This work presents a solution-processed gravure printed antenna on robust transparent nanopaper for potential Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) application. The nanopaper, having excellent dimensional stability in water, was obtained by glutaraldehyde treatment with hydrochloric (HCl) acid as a catalyst. For the first time, a device consisting of RF components for RFIDs was printed on stable nanopaper via a well-developed scalable method: gravure printing. Insertion losses of -37.9 dB and -38.85 dB for the 100 lpi and 120 lpi antennas respectively were demonstrated at the maximum gain of 683.75 MHz. The RF-based responses from the printed antenna demonstrated the feasibility of using printing technology, such as gravure printing, to fabricate flexible RFID antennas for various electronic device applications. This study paves the way for the development of low cost, disposable devices comprised of biodegradable and earth abundant materials to promote greener electronics.