SYNTHESIS OF EMPTY FRUIT BUNCHES CARBON POLYMER COMPOSITES AS GAS DIFFUSION LAYER FOR ELECTRODE MATERIALS

Abstract

SYNTHESIS OF EMPTY FRUIT BUNCHES CARBON POLYMER COMPOSITES AS GAS
DIFFUSION LAYER FOR ELECTRODE MATERIALS. Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) of oil palm has been
used, for example, for biofuels, automotive components, particle board, as a carbon source. Carbon material
scan be widely used for many applications, for hydrogen storage, conductive or reinforcement plastics, catalyst
supports, batteries and fuel cells. In this study, EFB carbon powder has been used as a raw material to make
sheets of carbon-polymer composites. The composition of the composite sheet was varied, the electrical
properties of the sheets were measured to determine the potential application as a Gas Diffusion Layer for
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) electrodes. Composites made with carbon composition
weight % compared to the polymer are 65/35, 70/30, 75/25 and 80/20. The materials used is EFB carbon
powder as a result of the pyrolysis temperature of 900 °C for 1 hour, then crushed and sieved to 200 mesh size,
and the polymer was ethylene vinyl acetate. The raw materials are mixed in a solvent xylene, and printed using
tape casting method, then dried at room temperature. The electrical properties were tested using a HIOKI
3522-50 LCR meter HiTESTER The measurement results show that the greater the ratio of carbon to polymer,
the higher the electrical conductivity, the values are between 1.54 S/m -11.34 S/m. Morphology of the composite
sheet was observed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to determine the distribution of carbon and
polymer. According to the measurement of morphology and electrical conductivity, the composite is suitable
for the gas diffusion layer of the PEMFC electrode.