A 3D printed dual-band antenna using liquid metal for wearable bracelets communications

Abstract

A 3D printed dual-band antenna using liquid metal (LM) as the conductor is presented for wearable bracelet wireless communications in this paper. The hollow antenna substrate is printed conformal to wrist using stereolithography technology. LM is infused into the microfluidic channels within the substrate as the radiating dipole arms. This conformal antenna generates two bands at 2.4 GHz and 5.3 GHz for body area communications. Effect of changing the bracelet thickness on the antenna radiation efficiency is investigated.