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In this work, carbon composite papers (CCP) were successfully produced by mixing 80 wt% carbon derived from coconut coir and 20 wt% binder (ethylene vinyl acetate and polyethylene glycol). The CCPs were prepared with two different forms of carbon material, i.e. powder (particle size: ± 74 µm) and fiber (length: ± 2 mm, diameter: 100-500 µm). Two types of papers were developed based on their composition. The first type, called CCP-1, was made from carbon in powder form (80 wt%), while the second one, CCP-2, was based on a combination of fiber (70 wt%) and powder (10 wt%). The influence of the carbon form on CCP properties were investigated, including electrical conductivity, porosity, hydrophobicity, microstructure, and its performance as a gas diffusion layer (GDL) in a stack of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. Based on the results, CCP-1 showed a slightly better fuel cell performance than CCP-2, which was also confirmed by its lower porosity, electrical conductivity, and water contact angle. The effect of carbon composite paper's properties, including its morphology and performance, are disscused in this paper in detail and compared with a commercially based GDL material (TGP-H-120).

Abstract. Activated carbon is materials that have wide applications, including supercapacitor materials, absorbent in chemical industry, and absorbent material in the chemical industry. This study has carried out for the manufacturing of activated carbon from inexpensive materials through efficient processes. Carbon material was made from coconut fibers through pyrolysis process at temperature of 650, 700, 750 and 800 o C. Aim of this study was to obtain carbon material that has a large surface area. Pyrolysis process is carried out in an inert atmosphere (N 2 gas) at a temperature of 450 o C for 30 minutes, followed by pyrolysis process in an ammonia atmosphere at 800 o C for 2 hours. The pyrolysis results showed that the etching process in ammonia is occurred; as it obtained some greater surface area when compared with the pyrolisis process in an atmosphere by inert gas only. The resulted activated carbon also showed to have good properties in surface area and total pore volume.