Radio Frequency Identification Temperature/CO2 Sensor Using Carbon Nanotubes

Ayesha Habib; Safia Akram; Mohamed R Ali; Taseer Muhammad; Sajeela Zainab; Shafia Jehangir

doi:10.3390/nano13020273

Radio Frequency Identification Temperature/CO₂ Sensor Using Carbon Nanotubes

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2023 Jan 9;13(2):273. doi: 10.3390/nano13020273.

Authors

Ayesha Habib¹, Safia Akram², Mohamed R Ali³, Taseer Muhammad⁴, Sajeela Zainab^{1

5}, Shafia Jehangir⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical Engineering, MCS, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
² Department of Basic Sciences, MCS, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
³ Center of Research, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo 11835, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Mathematics, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ ACTSENA Research Group, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila 47080, Pakistan.

Abstract

In the world of digitization, different objects cooperate with the Internet of Things (IoT); these objects also amplify using sensing and data processing structures. Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been identified as a key enabler technology for IoT. RFID technology has been used in different conventional applications for security, goods storage, transportation and asset management. In this paper, a fully inkjet-printed chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor tag is presented for the wireless identification of tagged objects. The dual polarized tag consists of two resonating structures functioning wirelessly. One resonator works for encoding purpose and other resonator is used as a CO₂/temperature sensor. The sensing behavior of the tag relies on the integration of a meandered structure comprising of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). The MWCNT is highly sensitive to CO₂ gas. The backscattered response of the square-shaped cascaded split ring resonators (SRR) is analyzed through a radar cross-section (RCS) curve. The overall tag dimension is 42.1 mm × 19.5 mm. The sensing performance of the tag is examined and optimized for two different flexible substrates, i.e., PET and Kapton^®HN. The flexible tag structure has the capability to transmit 5-bit data in the frequency bands of 2.36-3.9 GHz and 2.37-3.89 GHz, for PET and Kapton^®HN, respectively. The proposed chipless RFID sensor tag does not require any microchip or a power source, so it has a great potential for low-cost and automated temperature/CO₂ sensing applications.

Keywords: backscattering; chipless tag; cross-section curve; inkjet-printed electronics; sensor.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia for funding this work through General Research Project under grant number GRP/277/43.