Characterization of nanoparticle inks on a novel polyester-based substrate for manufacturing of passive UHF RFID tags

We characterize two nanoparticle inks for the fabrication of low-cost passive UHF RFID tags on a novel polyester-based substrate (Flexcon THERMLfilm). We developed optimized printing parameters for Silver (Harima NPS-JL) and Copper (ANI Cu-IJ70) inks, fabricated the tag antennas and sintered them using thermal and photonic sintering. The tag performance is evaluated through wireless tag measurements, with comparison to the same inks and antenna geometry on the well-known polyimide substrate Kapton. The paper discusses the compatibility of the two nanoparticle inks and their sintering on the novel substrate.