Proof of Concept of Reconfigurable Solvent Vapor Sensor Tag with Wireless Power Transfer for IoT Applications

In this paper, a concept of a reconfigurable chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor tag for detecting solvent vapors/gas in IoT applications was presented. The concept was based on the authors’ previously published rectangular loop structure equipped with a U-folded dipole loaded with a glide-symmetrical interdigital capacitor coated with a thin layer of tetrasulfonated copper phthalocyanine deposited as a sensing layer to improve the sensing capability in the presence of acetone vapor. In order to further maximize the sensitivity of the designed structure to the desired solvent, a circuit for a central frequency adjustment using a radio frequency varactor diode biased with a wireless power transfer (WPT) was designed. By varying the DC bias of the diode, a continuous tunable range of approximately 200 MHz was achieved. The proposed reconfigurable wireless sensor tag was manufactured and the frequency shift was verified by measurement. The proposed external frequency control can be applied to a wide class of electrical resonators.