Near-field communication tag development on a paper substrate—application to cold chain monitoring

The purpose of this study was the development and testing of a near-field communication (NFC) tag for cold chain monitoring. In this paper, we validated the use of large-surface printing technologies to make a high-frequency antenna (13.56 MHz) and carbon-based temperature sensor on an Arjowiggins' Powercoat™ paper substrate. The printed temperature sensor was connected to the output of the analog–digital converter of a commercial microprocessor. A direct temperature reading interface was developed. The main objectives were to demonstrate the potential of screen printing processes for the development of an NFC tag, and to validate the use of a printed resistive sensor for cold chain monitoring. The validation was carried out through the comparison of a reference temperature recorded by a thermocouple regarding the temperature recorded by the external printed sensor in the case of a cold chain break simulation.