CPW-fed dual band monopole antenna based on conductive polymers

This paper describes the design, fabrication and characterization of a flexible CPW-fed monopole organic antenna, based on a multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) doped Polyaniline (PANI). The antenna is printed on a 130µm Kapton® substrate. The design proposed allows the coverage of two frequency bands, 1.8 to 2.8 GHz and 4.5 to 7 GHz, which include ISM frequencies (2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz). The dual-band monopole antenna is made of a 65µm-thick conducting polymer (PANI/MWCNT) whose measured conductivity is 5500 S/m. The measurement results of the PANI/MWCNT monopole antenna show a good agreement with the simulation data. Moreover, it achieves a maximum gain of 0.40 dBi at 2.4 GHz and 2.4 dBi at 5.8 GHz. Altogether; the results confirm the potential of conductive polymers for the realization of flexible antennas.