Stretchable 5 GHz Dipole Antenna Using Silver Composite Material

A highly stretchable small-size 5 GHz dipole antenna is presented for wearable and mobile applications. A stretchable dipole antenna was fabricated using conductive polymer composite material composed of Ag flake filler and polyester binder. The dipole antenna was printed on a stretchable polyurethane substrate using a simple and inexpensive screen-printing technique. The stretchability and durability of the dipole antenna were evaluated by the stretching and cyclic stretching tests. The stretchable dipole antenna showed excellent stretchability and RF performances up to a tensile strain of 25%. The stretchable dipole antenna also exhibited outstanding mechanical durability in the 10,000-cycle cyclic stretching endurance tests.