## 1 Introduction  
Electrostatic charging is an issue for electronics (packing and transport), fuel tanks and equipment in explosive environments [1, 2]. Electrostatic discharge (EDS) during assembling, packing and shipping causes severe economic loss [3]. Antistic and electrostatic dissipative materials with surface resistivity (<1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{12}\)\(\Omega\)/sq) resolve this issue. There is a worldwide demand for antistatic and electrostatic dischargaterials for electronic packing applications and personal protective equipment (PPE) used in hazardous explosive environments [4]. Carbon-based polymer composites are the most common antistatic materials, due to their favourable properties, including tuneable electrical conductivity, high thermal stability, chemical resistance and low photdegradation [5, 6]. Several carbonaceous fillers, such as carbon black [7], carbon fibre, carbon nanotube [8] and graphene [9], improve the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the polymer matrix [10]. Such carbon-based composites find applications in electrostatic-dissipative and antistatic materials [11]. However, producing carbon-based conductive fillers requires petrochemical or non-renewable precursors, making them expensive and not environmentally friendly. It is essential to replace such electrically conductive reinforcing fillers with environmentally benign, cost-effective, renewable carbonaceous fillers [12, 13]. A suitable substitute for petrochemical-based conductive fillers in the polymer matrix is biochar produced through biomass pyrolysis in an oxygen-deficient/inert atmosphere. The pyrolysis of biomass in an inert atmosphere expels the volatiles from organic matter and produces carbon-rich residue with a porous structure [14; 15]. However, the physical and chemical properties of the biochar depend on the precursor and the pyrolysis conditions applied. The pyrolysis of biomass at low temperatures (\(\leq\)700 \({}^{\circ}\)C) contains a high concentration of functional groups and low carbon content [16]. However, if the pyrolysis is carried out at a higher temperature, in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere, it can improve the specific surface area and carbon content, especially the amount of sp\({}^{2}\) hybridised carbon, imparting electrical conductivity to the residual carbon [17; 18]. Such biochar material with a high carbon content is thermally stable and porous, with a large surface area, allowing the infiltration of polymer materials into the pores, thus improving the interlocking of particles with polymer matrix [14; 19; 20]. Moreover, due to the low concentration of functional groups, biochar shows better compatibility with the polymer matrix, compared to natural fibres [21; 22]. Biochar also has high thermal stability; hence, biochar composites can be processed at higher temperatures [23]. Coconut (_Cocos uncifera_) shell is an organic waste, abundantly present in Asian and South American countries [24; 25]. It is a good precursor for producing activated charcoal and has recently been used to develop functional materials for contamination removal, energy storage, and for manufacturing reinforced polymer composites [26; 27; 28; 29; 30]. Although biochars from different precursors have proven to be suitable reinforcing fillers for polymer matrices such as poly(trimethylene terephthalate/poly (lactic acid) (PTT/PLA) blend [31], polypropylene [14; 32], poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) [23] and PLA/potato starch blend [33], studies on the utilisation of biochar composites as antistatic material are limited. For the application of antistatic personal-protective-equipment (PPE) and electronic packing material, both good electrical (surface resistivity \(\leq\)1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{12}\)\(\Omega\)/sq) and mechanical properties are essential. Moreover, personal protective equipment (PPE) and electronic packing material must be disposed of once damaged, or after use.