Polymer conductive fabric grid array antenna with pliable feature for wearable application

A flexible microstrip grid array antenna designed on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate and copper conductive fabric as the patch and ground plane is presented. The proposed rectangular geometry designed at 15 GHz is made of 19 cells with 22 radiating elements. The proposed antenna achieves almost 40% wideband characteristics at −10 dB reflection coefficient from 11.10 GHz until 16.2 GHz with measured maximum gain of 14.0 dBi in normal state. Analysis on performance of antenna at bend state with various value of bend radius has been done. The measured reflection coefficient shows low sensitivity to bending effect where the antenna operates well at designed frequency which is at 15 GHz. Due to these criteria, it is a suitable candidate for wearable applications.