Experimental study on the washing durability of electro-textile UHF RFID tags

In this letter, we investigate the impact of washing on the performance of passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tags based on dipole antennas fabricated from silver and copper fabrics. Initially, the tags achieved read ranges of 6 and 10.8 m, respectively, under the European RFID emission regulation. To assess the impact of washing on the performance of the tags, they were washed repeatedly in a washing machine and measured after every washing cycle. The silver fabric tag was found to be more durable without any coating and maintained a read range of over 2 m after 10 washing cycles. We also tested two conformal coatings to protect the tags from wear and tear during washing and found regular textile glue to be a promising conformal coating for both types of textile tags. Finally, we present simulation results to confirm the relationship between reduction in the antenna conductivity and the measured read ranges of the tags during the washing test.