Fine activated carbon (FAC) is prepared from rubber fruit shells (RFS) using two chemical activating agents (ZnCl2 and KOH) and three impregnation ratios (1:3, 1:4, and 1:5). The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) results show that for a constant impregnation ratio, the ZnCl2 activating agent yields a higher specific surface area than the KOH agent. In particular, for the maximum impregnation ratio of 1:5, the FAC prepared using ZnCl2 has a BET surface area of 456 m2/g, a nitrogen absorption capacity of 150.38 cm3/g, and an average pore size of 3.44 nm. Moreover, the FAC structure consists of 70.1% mesopores and has a carbon content of 80.05 at.%. Overall, the results confirm that RFS, activated using an appropriate quantity of ZnCl2, provides a cheap, abundant, and highly promising precursor material for the preparation of activated carbon with high carbon content and good adsorption properties

AbstrakSalah satu pertimbangan dalam merencanakan bahan komposit adalah bagaimana agar material komposit yang akan di gunakan dalam suatu konstruksi dapat terdegradasi secara alami di alam. Penggunaan serat alam adalah solusi agar tujuan tersebut dapat tercapai. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa kekutan mekanik komposit dengan mengkombinasikan matrik polimer yang diperkuat dengan serat alam. Polimer yang digunakan adalah jenis resin YUKALAC 157 BQTN -EX dengan pengeras MEKPO. Penguat yang digunakan adalah masing-masing serat resam (dicranopteris linearis), serat ijuk (arenga Pennata) dan jerami padi. Setiap serat mendapatkan perlakuan perendaman pada NaOH 5% selama 2 jam. Standar uji menggunakan ASTM D638 untuk uji tarik dan D5941 untuk uji impak. Dari hasil pengujian diperoleh uji tarik yang paling tinggi adalah serat resam yaitu 26,8747 MPa, modulus elastisitas yang paling tinggi adalah serat jerami padi yaitu 4427,4030 MPa, dan nilai regangan yang paling tinggi adalah serat resam yaitu 0,5482%. Nilai kerja patah tertinggi adalah serat ijuk yaitu 18,1500 J dan nilai kekuatan impak tertinggi adalah serat ijuk yaitu 0,1120 J/mm 2 .Kata kunci : Komposit, serat resam, serta ijuk dan serat jerami padi PendahuluanKomposit sudah lama diaplikasikan pada peralatan guna mempermudah kehidupan manusia. Bagian dari pesawat terbang, kendaraan bermotor, kapal laut dan perabotan rumah tangga merupakan aplikasi dari komposit.Komposit merupakan kombinasi antara dua atau lebih material untuk mendapat sifat antara kedua atau lebih material tersebut. Komposit memiliki kelebihan antara lain ringan, kaku dan tahan lama. Unsur pembentuk komposit adalah matrik dan penguat. Matrik yang umum digunakan adalah polimer berbahan resin dan penguat serat sintetis berbahan dasar serat karbon.Namun, penggunaan kedua jenis material diatas akan mengakibatkan masalah bagi lingkungan karena sulitnya terdegradasi oleh alam.Penggunaan serat alami merupakan usaha yang dilakukan untuk mengurangi dampak lingkungan karena mudahnya terurai di lingkungan secara alami. Selain itu penggunaan serat alam ini mempunyai beberapa kelebihan antara lain: mudah didapat, jumlahnya berlimpah dan dapat diperbaharui.Berlimpahnya jumlah serat resam (dicranopteris linearis), serat ijuk (arenga Pennata) dan jerami padi menjadi pertimbangan dalam penelitian ini. Perlakuan terhadap serat sebelum di cetak juga dilakukan guna mendapatkan sifat maksimum yang dapat di hasilkan dari komposit. Perlakukan terhadap masingmasing serat, yaitu perendaman pada air NaOH 5% selama 2 jam.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mencari nilai maksimum terhadap sifat-sifat komposit dengan matrik polimer dan berpenguat ketiga serat alami diatas.

Recently, the conversion of biomass into carbon nanofibers has been extensively studied. In this study, carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were prepared from rubber fruit shell (RFS) by chemical activation with H3PO4, followed by a simple hydrothermal process at low temperature and without a vacuum and gas catalyst. XRD and Raman studies show that the structure formed is an amorphous graphite formation. From the thermal analysis, it is shown that CNFs have a high thermal stability. Furthermore, an SEM/TEM analysis showed that CNFs’ morphology varied in size and thickness. The obtained results reveal that by converting RFS into an amorphous carbon through chemical activation and hydrothermal processes, RFS is considered a potential biomass source material to produce carbon nanofibers.

The rubber fruit shell (RFS) activated carbon has been made using KOH as a chemical activating agent with several variations of the impregnation ratio (1:3, 1:4, and 1:5). To ascertain the impact of the impregnation ratio on the attributes of the produced activated carbon, analysis was carried out using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, X-ray diffraction, and a field emission scanning electron microscope. In the impregnation ratio, 1:5 was carried out as the best result; the value for BET surface area and nitrogen adsorption isotherms were 160 m2/g and 62 cm3/g, where the average pore size diameter was 4.6 nm. Besides, this activated carbon also has around 78.40% carbon. According to the findings of this investigation, the impregnation ratio affects the performance of using KOH as an activator to produce activated carbon from rubber fruit shells. In addition, it could be indicated that the RFS has the potential to be an alternative source of relatively inexpensive activated carbon because the raw materials are available in large quantities.

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is an offensive-smelling, colorless, and toxic gas that can cause poisoning even in small quantities. In this study, we proposed a sensor that can detect H 2 S with a low composition using SnO 2 and Au nanoparticles as a catalyst. We investigated the structure formed in the thin layer of a sensing material and determined whether it can absorb the tested gas well and produce a high sensing response. We also determined the optimal operating temperature and showed that it has excellent response and recovery times. Pure SnO 2 was synthesized by a simple thermal decomposition method. In the next step, the wet chemical method was used to dissolve the SnO 2 and Au nanoparticles before a viscous liquid compound was deposited onto the electrode by the drop-casting method. The sensor's performance for H 2 S gas detection was tested at low concentrations with four concentrations of Au nanoparticles on SnO 2 -based materials. The results showed that the structure formed in the thin layer is an agglomeration of hollow grains, which allows the gas to be absorbed properly. The result indicated that 40 µl of Au nanoparticles was the optimum concentration for a H 2 S gas sensor, with responses of 65.12% at 0.2 ppm and 87.34% at 1 ppm. The response time was 8 s, whereas the recovery time was 31 s. Moreover, the optimal operating temperature for the reaction was 200 ℃. The findings of this experiment demonstrated that depositing Au-nanoparticle-decorated SnO 2 by the drop-casting method produced a structure with superior gas-sensing performance.