Engineers at the University of Maryland have developed a new type of radio antenna for automotive applications that has been described as impossible to break. The new material, a lightweight, plastic-like composite, possesses magnetic and dielectric properties and can be used to make antennas that can be formed into any shape.
“Imagine a trip to the carwash without that feeling of panic when you realize you’ve left your radio antenna up,” the researchers said in a statement this month. “That worry could become a thing of the past.”
But the concept goes beyond traditional antennas. It could also be used to make panels or enclosures into antennas. For instance, by making a cell-phone case out of this material, the case could then become the antenna, resulting in a smaller cell phone with better reception. (Radio-recieving BMW body panels, anyone?)
Peter Kofinas, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UM’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, developed the material in a “chemistry shake-and-bake process� resulting in a self-organizing polymer containing nanometer-sized particles of two metals, iron and strontium.
“The new material will allow for more freedom in the creation of the next-generation of devices, which will have lighter, smaller, more efficient design and aesthetic appeal now that a straight, brittle metallic antenna does not have to be incorporated,â€? Kofinas says.
Kofinas’ work is still in the research stage, but the U.S. Air Force is interested in the material for use in protective covers for radar equipment and other types of shielding for electronics. The Air Force recently awarded Kofinas a $367,000 grant for further research.
