Does RFID work around metal and water?

Modified on Fri, 30 Aug at 2:45 PM

Up to some years ago, metallic environments were challenging for RFID. Metallic objects reflect and diffract electromagnetic waves making classical RFID tags inoperant. 


This is not the case today as many tag manufacturers now propose tags that are dedicated to operating on metal. Their packaging and antenna designs allow these tags to be attached to metallic items like beer kegs, medical devices, or any other aeronautic and automotive parts.

Water or liquids absorb the electromagnetic waves reducing the amount of power a tag can receive from a reader. Those liquids also detune the RFID tags reducing the tag's sensitivity. When surrounded by water, a RAIN tag has performance that can be drastically reduced. 


This can be more or less mitigated by dedicated tag antenna design which can improve the read range compared to classical tags.

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