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Researchers Create 'Spray-On' 2D Antennas (phys.org)
In a study published in Science Advances, researchers in Drexel's College of Engineering describe a method for spraying invisibly thin antennas, made from a type of two-dimensional, metallic material called MXene, that perform as well as those being used in mobile devices, wireless routers and portable transducers. Phys.Org reports: The researchers, from the College's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, report that the MXene titanium carbide can be dissolved in water to create an ink or paint. The exceptional conductivity of the material enables it to transmit and direct radio waves, even when it's applied in a very thin coating. Preserving transmission quality in a form this thin is significant because it would allow antennas to easily be embedded -- literally, sprayed on -- in a wide variety of objects and surfaces without adding additional weight or circuitry or requiring a certain level of rigidity.
Initial testing of the sprayed antennas suggest that they can perform with the same range of quality as current antennas, which are made from familiar metals, like gold, silver, copper and aluminum, but are much thicker than MXene antennas. Making antennas smaller and lighter has long been a goal of materials scientists and electrical engineers, so this discovery is a sizable step forward both in terms of reducing their footprint as well as broadening their application.
Initial testing of the sprayed antennas suggest that they can perform with the same range of quality as current antennas, which are made from familiar metals, like gold, silver, copper and aluminum, but are much thicker than MXene antennas. Making antennas smaller and lighter has long been a goal of materials scientists and electrical engineers, so this discovery is a sizable step forward both in terms of reducing their footprint as well as broadening their application.
You scratched my antenna! How am I supposed to look at cat photos now?
This might make thinner antennas, but they won't be any smaller.
They will still need a plastic support structure, will still need to be the same physical wavelength, and will still need to be mounted away from other metal.
Sadly, it won't change the laws of physics.
will I finally get free wifi ?
This spray-on antenna technology first appeared in Larry Niven's Ringworld Throne, published in 1996.
http://theconversation.com/spray-on-antennas-unlock-communication-of-the-future-103637
You trolltards make me laugh!
And why the compound itself isn't documented:
This will be used as a modern equivalent of the old espionage antennas.
Having something invisibly thin you can stencil/spray out in the field and wire up to an espionage device, before coating the whole thing in a layer of paint will be a huge boon to whatever government/ngos have access to it.
You need to spray it on something, then connect a wire to it. Why not use the wire for the antenna?
Like a PCB antenna, which is only 35um thick copper.
If you want something thin and transparent, why not use ITO? It has similar resistivity to titanium carbide.
Alternatively if this is cheaper than ITO, why not use it for LCD manufacturing?
The second link in the summary "describe a method for spraying invisibly thin antennas" seems to go to an article titled "Facebook stops sending staff to help political campaigns". Was this link changed when being posted?
My UID is prime and so is this number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.
We don't have that where I come from.
What could go wrong?
The same problems occur with these spray on antennas as any fixed antenna. You cannot adjust their angle for reception without adjusting the whole device. Yo u also face a problem of durability with such a product as a spray on material. Or corrosion affecting conductivity.
I am not sure how valuable it will be as an antenna, but it could have serious potential as a spray on shield technology
sprayed on? I imagine this cannot transmit or receive very much RF power.... A few milliwatts, perhaps. Not going to be able to receive a weak VHF/UHF signal or transmit at 5 or 10 Watts, comparable to a portable radio.
As part of a research/development contract we used spray-on conductive paint designed for RF shielding to create antennas. This was a shortcut to building traditionally solid metal antennas and was eventually designed into the devices we were developing. The only real problem was that when the substrate flexed, the paint cracked and the antenna became useless. Despite our progress in advancing state of the art, the contract was cancelled and given to a huge aerospace company which used more traditional and costlier designs.
I don't think this is a new or ground-breaking development, considering that we've had the ability to draw conductors with a pen for quite some time now. Not particularly cheap, and tricky to solder to or otherwise connect to, but you could draw quite a few antennas with it. I'd bet good money I could, for instance, draw an HDTV antenna on a piece of cardboard with this, and it'd have decent gain. The 300-to-75-ohm balun would be a challenge, though, probably have to just buy one of those. Now, imagine a special print cartridge for an inkjet printer, or special toner for a laser printer, or a plotter pen. Just design the antenna you want in CAD then print it straight onto whatever.