Reinforced Continuous Carbon-Fiber Composites Using Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes for Wideband Antenna Applications

Author

Mehdipour, Aidin ; Sebak, Abdel-Razik ; Trueman, Christopher W. ; Rosca, Iosif D. ; Hoa, Suong V.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Concordia Univ., Montreal, QC, Canada

Volume

58

Issue

7

fYear

2010

fDate

7/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2451

Lastpage

2456

Abstract

We explore using reinforced continuous carbon fiber (RCCF) composite for wideband antennas in wireless applications. We use composite material as the radiating element for a wireless applications. An electromagnetic (EM) model of the composite antenna is developed using Microwave Studio for numerical analysis. An RCCF composite sample is prepared including up to 2% multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) to enhance the conductivity. The anisotropic conductivity of the resulting material is determined by measurement using standard waveguide setups. The reflection coefficient, radiation pattern and gain of the composite antenna are investigated. The frequency- and time-domain dispersions are found for the composite antenna to show its suitability for ultrawideband (UWB) communication systems. It is observed that RCCF/MWCNT composite is an effectively alternative to metal for the antenna structure.

Keywords

antenna radiation patterns; broadband antennas; carbon fibre reinforced composites; carbon nanotubes; monopole antennas; numerical analysis; radio networks; waveguides; UWB communication systems; anisotropic conductivity; electromagnetic model; multiwall carbon nanotubes; numerical analysis; radiating element; reinforced continuous carbon-fiber composites; time-domain dispersions; ultrawideband communication systems; wideband antenna applications; wireless applications; Broadband antennas; Carbon nanotubes; Chemical elements; Composite materials; Conductivity; Electromagnetic modeling; Electromagnetic radiation; Microwave antennas; Nanocomposites; Numerical analysis; Antenna; radiating element; reinforced carbon-fiber composites; wideband antennas;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-926X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAP.2010.2048862

Filename

5454294