Experimental Study on Inkjet-Printed Passive UHF RFID Tags on Versatile Paper-Based Substrates

We present the possibilities and challenges of passive UHF RFID tag antennas manufactured by inkjet printing silver nanoparticle ink on versatile paper-based substrates. The most efficient manufacturing parameters, such as the pattern resolution, were determined and the optimal number of printed layers was evaluated for each substrate material. Next, inkjet-printed passive UHF RFID tags were fabricated on each substrate with the optimized parameters and number of layers. According to our measurements, the tags on different paper substrates showed peak read ranges of 4-6.5 meters and the tags on different cardboard substrates exhibited peak read ranges of 2-6 meters. Based on their wireless performance, these inkjet-printed paper-based passive UHF RFID tags are sufficient for many future wireless applications and comparable to tags fabricated on more traditional substrates, such as polyimide.