Substrate integrated circular cavity resonator filled with nano-fibrillated cellulose for humidity detection

Abstract

In this work, a novel microwave sensor fully based on Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology filled with nanofibrillated cellulose for humidity detection is presented for the very first time. The proposed structure consists of a circular SIW cavity resonator perturbed by the inclusion of nano-fibrillated cellulose inside the cavity. Due to the presence of humidity, the relative permittivity of the eco-friendly dielectric, which is known as a humidity sensitive material, changes, leading to a shift of the resonance frequency of the Substrate Integrate Cavity Circular Resonator (SICCR). The proposed humidity sensor structure operates between 4.28 to 4.32 GHz and exhibits a frequency shift of around 20 MHz for relative humidity in the range of 11.7% to 91% RH. The proposed sensing device operates with very low-cost sustainable and renewable material, is simple to manufacture, co-integrates with existing microwave planar circuits and has the advantage of demonstrating high sensitivity performance.