2.4 GHz Fully Woven Textile-Integrated Circularly Polarized Rectenna for Wireless Power Transfer Applications

In this work, a 2.4 GHz fully woven textile-integrated circularly polarized rectenna intended for wireless power transfer applications is presented. A rectangular patch with truncated corners is used as the radiating element. It is fed through a T-match structure, which allows the control of the input impedance without requiring any additional impedance-matching network. A single-diode rectifier topology was considered to simplify the entire structure and to facilitate its integration with the antenna. The rectifier and the antenna are optimized together through a co-simulation strategy, in which the input impedance of the antenna is adjusted to match the input impedance of the rectifier, ensuring maximum power transfer between them. At the implementation stage, the rectifier is first mounted on a carrier thread, which is then incorporated into the woven structure. This approach, in combination with the chosen antenna feeding technique, which requires no additional elements for impedance matching purposes, provides a high degree of integration between the antenna and the rectifier. The rectenna was experimentally characterized, providing a 45% overall efficiency under realistic working conditions.