Semiconductor carbon composite from coir dust and sepiolite

advantage of the water adsorption capacity of sepiolite at high relative humidity and that of activated carbon [7], being also used as adsorbent for NH3 and H2S [8]. Here we report the preparation of a carbon composite by the carbonization of pellets containing coconut coir dust [9] as carbon source and sepiolite as a binder. It is known that carbonaceous materials present good electronic conductivity in addition to high surface areas [10,11], thus being ideal candidates for use as electrodes in systems such as sensors, energy storage and generation devices [12]. Monoliths are required for some of these applications, such as electrodes for supercapacitors, as specifically discussed by Rojo and co-workers [13,14], so here we propose a possibility of obtaining carbon monoliths from coconut coir with semiconducting properties.