Fabrication, characterization, and reliability analysis of 3D printed high frequency, wideband, and flexible carbon-nanotube and graphene-oxide based rectangular patch antennas deployable on curvilinear and deformable surfaces

In this paper, we extensively report the additive fabrication and characterization of carbon-nanotube and graphene oxide-based 3D printed rectangular patch antennas that can be integrated on curvilinear and deformable surfaces. Our fabricated antennas can be as thin as few microns and demonstrate reflection coefficient ( S 11 ) values that confirm their super-high-frequency (in tens of GHz) and ultra-wideband characteristics. For example, the measured result of S 11 is below −10 dB in the frequency range of 12 GHz–39 GHz (7 GHz–22 GHz or 5 GHz–25 GHz) for printed patch antennas on flat FR4 substrates (or on curvilinear, bendable PLA substrates). In addition, we quantify other characteristics of these printed antenna structures (e.g., radiation efficiency and gain) and also demonstrate good robustness and reliability (in terms of maintaining the performance) of the antenna structures after being subjected to long-term temperature cycling. Additionally, we measure the radiation efficiency of the printed CNT-GO patch antenna on flat FR4 substrates and also obtain simulation results for quantifying the S 11 and the gain of the antenna.