Small form factor UWB antenna integrating geopolymer dielectric material

This study presents a new design of a reduced volumetric ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna using innovative dielectric based on the use of geopolymer material which is safe and eco-friendly. The created antenna is intended to radiate in the air. The impedance mismatch due to interface dielectric/air at the aperture of the antenna imposes to choose dielectric material with an appropriate permittivity value. In this study, the authors focus on the experimental protocol that they use to elaborate a dielectric material with suitable dielectric properties over an UWB domain. An experimental phase of dielectric properties assessment is also described. The conceived antenna is inspired by K-antenna which constitutes the starting point of the proposed new antenna design, particularly because of their small dimensions. The antenna is intended to operate in a frequency band ranging from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. The authors demonstrate that the use of an appropriate innovative dielectric material like a geopolymer is an efficient way to reduce the antenna size. Furthermore, the behaviour of the antenna filled with geopolymer is validated using experimental results.