Development of a RFID sensitive tag dedicated to the monitoring of the environmental corrosiveness for indoor applications

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Vol. 322; p. 128602
• Main Authors: El Masri, I., Lescop, B., Talbot, P., Vien, G. Nguyen, Becker, J., Thierry, D., Rioual, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 01-11-2020; Elsevier Science Ltd; Elsevier
• Subjects: Air quality; Antennas; Atmospheric corrosion; Autonomous sensor; Climatic chamber; Condensed Matter; Coupling; Electromagnetic simulation; Environmental corrosivity; Environmental monitoring; Fog; Gaseous pollutants; Indoor applications; Indoor environments; Materials Science; Metal thickness; Physics; Pollutants; Pollution induced corrosion; Radio frequency identification; Radio frequency identification (RFID); Reduction (metal working); Relative humidity; RFID; Sensors; Temperature and relative humidity; Test chambers; Thickness; Thickness reduction; Thin metallic layer; Ultra-high frequency; Ultrahigh frequencies; Environmental corrosivity; Air quality; Autonomous sensor; RFID; Atmospheric corrosion
• ISSN: 0925-4005; 1873-3077; 1873-3077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2020.128602

•Description of a new method for environmental corrosiveness monitoring based on the RFID technology.•Sensitivity of the sensor ensured by the EM coupling between an RFID antenna and a sensitive metallic layer exposed to the environment.•Monitoring thickness variation of metals in the range of tens of nanometers.
The environmental corrosiveness is governed for indoor applications by the presence of gaseous pollutants in air and levels of temperature and relative humidity. Its determination is a challenging task and requires the monitoring of thickness reduction of selected metals in the range of few tens of nanometers. The present work aims at developing an UHF RFID (Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification) sensor dedicated to such measurements. The sensor is based on the coupling between the antenna of a commercial RFID tag and a thin layer of copper exposed to the environment. The ability of the proposed sensor to be sensitive to a variation of the metal thickness in the range of tens of nanometers is demonstrated experimentally through exposure tests in a climatic chamber. The results are supported by electromagnetic simulations performed in the case of a coupling between a dipolar antenna and a thin metallic layer.