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A series of glycerol-plasticized starch composites reinforced by rice-husk cellulose nanocrystals was successfully fabricated through the solution casting technique. The rice husks must undergo alkali treatment, bleaching, and sulphuric acid hydrolysis before cellulose nanocrystals can be produced. The cellulose nanocrystal content used as filler was varied from 0 to 10 wt%. The thermal stability of the composite were analysed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG). The starch biocomposite films reinforced with rice-husk cellulose nanocrystals showed improved tensile strengths and tensile moduli. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to determine the diameter and length distribution of the cellulose nanocrystals. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed that the cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were well distributed in the matrix. At the optimum 6% filler loading, the cellulose nanocrystals exhibited a higher reinforcing efficiency in the plasticized starch biocomposites than at any other filler loading.

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has always acknowledged the needs to provide the opportunities get a quality education at the tertiary level. One of the many initiatives is its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme which is established to give financial support to B40 youth to pursue their studies through a pre-diploma programme. This CSR programme has helped 40,836 B40 pre-diploma students from the year of 2010 until 2018. Thus, a study has been conducted to investigate the overall academic performance and employability of the pre-diploma programme students who pursued their study in Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology. This study provides an overview of the achievements of institutional efforts in helping underprivileged students in preparing them for real work scenarios in agricultural sector with a good level of education. Primary data have been obtained from databases which handled by the UiTM Transformation Unit. Numerical analysis of the employability data was obtained through questionnaires and surveys from Skim Kajian Pengesanan Graduan (SKPG). All the data have been screened, cleaned, and coded accordingly using Microsoft Excel to find the connections and relationships. Descriptive statistics from the findings revealed that 81, 32 and two pre-diploma students successfully graduate their studies to diploma, bachelor's and master degree respectively. 48% of the graduates are currently employed mostly in the private sector with the 'fresh graduates' qualification offered salaries between RM1,000 -RM1,800. In future work, further research can be done on how these pre-diploma students of low-income families can change the socioeconomics of their families as agriculture sector