Dielectric Characterization and Chemical Concentration Sensing using T-Shaped Antenna

This paper presents a multifunctional, cost-effective, and easy to fabricate T-shaped patch antenna resonating in the frequency range of 18 - 25 GHz when evaluated without sample and resonant frequency in a range of 2.5 - 9 GHz when sample layer is introduced as superstrate in sensor structure, having a broad range of applications in the field of chemical and biomedical sensing. In the proposed design structure, the sensor layer is the topmost layer with a T-shaped patch antenna underneath with substrate and ground plane, respectively. Ethanol, Methanol, and edible fat solution samples are investigated for concentration sensing. The design demonstrated consistent behaviour of increase in resonant frequency by the value of at least 150 MHz with an increase in the concentration of Ethanol and methanol. In the case of edible fat, the resonant frequency increased by a relatively smaller value of 10 MHz with an increase in the concentration of edible fat in the sample layer.