The Influence of the Washing Process on the Impedance of Textronic Radio Frequency Identification Transponder Antennas

Abstract

Antennas dedicated to RFID systems created on textile substrates should maintain strictly defined parameters. During washing, the materials from which such antennas are made are exposed to mechanical and chemical exposure—degradation of the parameters characterizing those materials may occur, which in turn may lead to a change in the parameters of the antenna. For research purposes, four groups of model dipole antennas (sewn with two types of conductive threads on two fabrics) were created and then they were subjected to several washing processes. After each stage of the experiment, the impedance parameters of the demonstration antennas were measured using indirect measurements. Based on the obtained results, it was found that these parameters change their values during washing, and that this is influenced by a number of factors, e.g., shrinkage of the substrate fabric.