Durian skin waste generated by durian fruit or Durio zibethinus Murray show potential as a new reinforcement basednatural fibre. Similar to other lignocellulosic fibre, durian skin fibre (DSF) is capable in reinforcing polylactic acid (PLA)
through extrusion and injection moulding processes for various applications. In current study, the effects of fibre
content and pre-treatment using 4% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on DSF were investigated on impact and thermal
properties of PLA biocomposites. Treated DSF significantly enhanced the properties of PLA biocomposites as
compared to untreated biocomposite. PLA can be replaced by 30. wt% DSF for similar impact performance.
Thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) demonstrated that pre-treated DSF improved the thermal stability of PLA
biocomposite. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed the presence of pre-treated DSF minimally enhanced
the glass transition temperature (T ), crystallization temperature (T ) and melting temperature (T ) relative to
untreated DSF which suggests on better reinforcement with NaOH pre-treatmen
