Highly Stretchable and Durable Nanocomposite Bow-Tie Antenna for Wearable Application

We present a highly stretchable and compact bow-tie antenna which operates at 5 GHz for wearable applications. The dimensions of the bow-tie antenna were 7.9 mm×17.8 mm. The stretchable antenna was fabricated with a composite mixture of silver flake and polymer binder. The composite paste was printed on polyurethane and textile using the screen printing technique. The RF performances, stretchability, bendability, and durability of the antennas were evaluated, which are critical requirements in wearable electronics. The stretchable bow-tie antennas showed excellent RF performances and stretchability up to a stretching strain of 40%. The antennas could be bent up to a bending radius of 20 mm without degrading RF performance. The stretchable antennas also exhibited outstanding mechanical endurance after 10,000 cyclic stretching tests. The antennas were not affected by the presence of the body and showed very stable RF performances, exhibiting promising results for mobile and wearable applications.