Inkjet printed nanomaterial based flexible radio frequency identification (RFID) tag sensors for the internet of nano things

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has limitless possibilities for applications in the entire spectrum of our daily lives, from healthcare to automobiles to public safety. The IoT is expected to grow into a trillion dollar industry worldwide over the next decade. The components of the IoT will be integrated with cloud computing, which will facilitate easy access and analysis of big data stored in cloud systems across the globe. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is based on wireless communication systems and offers easy integration into the Internet cloud system. The potential of RFID tag sensor technologies has been studied in different industrial sectors including healthcare, food safety, environmental pollution, anti-counterfeiting of bank-notes and fake medicines, factories, customer shopping behavior, logistics, public transport, and safety. In this review article, the role of inkjet-printed RFID tag sensors is described in the emerging fields of IoT and the Internet of Nano Things (IoNT). This review is concerned with the use of inkjet-printed nanomaterials to fabricate RFID-enabled devices as a component of IoT technology. Inkjet-printed flexible RFID tag sensors based on nanomaterials including multilayer graphene, carbon nanotubes, gold, silver and copper nanoparticles, conductive polymers and their based composites used for detecting toxic gases and chemicals are discussed. Inkjet-printed nanomaterial-based RFID tag sensors that can be easily printed on flexible paper, plastic, textile, glass, and metallic surfaces, show potential in flexible and wearable electronics technologies. Finally, challenges such as energy and safety issues for RFID tag sensors are analyzed.