Wideband microstrip antenna for the detection of solutes in water

Abstract

AbstractEffective detection of solutes in water has always been a challenging issue in real‐time. This article presents a technique to detect solutes such as table sugar (CHOO3), common salt (NaCl), and combinations thereof in water using a wideband microstrip antenna with an electromagnetic band gap ground structure. An antenna is designed and fabricated to operate at the bandwidth of 3 GHz with a stable gain of 9 dBi maintaining voltage standing wave ratio ≤ 2. The uniquely designed antenna works as a sensor in its near field to sense solutes in water as a function of the resonant frequency. Apart from sensing solutes, the proposed technique also efficiently detects temperature of soft drinks. As temperature of soft drinks changes, reflection characteristics of an antenna change too. The results of the experiments show that as the concentration of the solute increases, the return loss decreases. The beauty of this technique is its efficient detection without any physical contact with a solution and without disturbing the chemical processes inside the solution. This method can be quite useful for food regulation boards to analyze and detect the contents of beverages, soft drinks and any consumable liquid, whether hot or cold.