A screen-printed CPW-fed circularly polarized antenna using a sustainable cork substrate

This paper presents a novel, coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed circularly polarized (CP) monopole antenna. The antenna is fabricated using screen-printing techniques, with silver nanoparticles as the conductive material and cork used as a sustainable substrate. Circular polarization is achieved by introducing a radiating element orthogonal to the main radiating monopole element. The measurements of the fabricated antenna show a -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 183 MHz, corresponding to a fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 7.6% at 2.4 GHz. Furthermore, at 2.4 GHz, the antenna demonstrates a measured peak realized gain of -1.8 dBi and a radiation efficiency of 58%. A 3-dB axial-ratio fractional bandwidth for right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) operation at 2.4 GHz is 5.3%. The proposed antenna is well-suited for use in various 2.4 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and can be integrated into items such as next-generation smart floors using sustainable materials.