I am in the process of gathering parts for a 9mm build. I plan on applying duracoat to the receivers and handguard. Should I use scrubber pads or sand paper to degrease and scuff prior to paint? thanks in advance.

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I would say neither.  Better to blast.  When you sand, you will etch the surface and forever scratch the aluminum.  I have tried it.

I use the Scotch-brite type pads included with the Duracoat kits.  I've never had a problem yet and I've done about a dozen barrels, CroMo and SS, and a half-dozen forends.
Remember, clean with the Tru-strip, scuff, wipe down with clean microfiber cloth or blow off any dust left on the surface with air, then spray.
On a previously anodized or Parkerized surface there is no need to scuff, just clean and spray.  See the Duracoat finishing guide on their web site.

That's it in a nutshell. Use the pad supplied by duracoat. The little one they supply isn't enough though. I had to pick up a few more of the green ones in the dishwashing isle to prep the second rifle.

I scrubbed each rifle, washed them in hot soapy water, degreased with non-chlorinated brake cleaner, and then the degreaser they included in the pack.

I use a bead blasting set up, but you can also use scotch brite and I have in the past, one of the biggest things, once you get it clean, don't handle with your bare hands, put it in a plastic bag until you are ready to coat.  When I am doing duracoat, I spray then let dry and then put in a 200 degree oven for an hour or more that was you don't have marks and it sets up to a hard baked shell.

That said, others may disagree, but I have been doing it for years with boat restoration parts the same way and they have held up quite well.

I baked my Durakoted parts in the oven at 250 for two hours. I am pleased with the results.

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I've switched completely to DuraBake and DuraCoat.

The metal prep isn't nearly as important as it is for Cerakote, but you still want some roughness to the metal surface.

If it's aluminum, I scrub it with hot detergent water (the kind you keep in your kitchen sink), rinse it good, and then dry it in the oven at 250 degrees F for 1 hour. If it's anodized, then it's ready for painting at this point. If it's bare metal I lightly sandblast with aluminum oxide, rinse again with hot detergent water to clean it, and let it dry.
It's ready to paint as soon as it's dry.

If it's already anodized, you don't need to sandblast it; just clean it (DuraCoat and DuraBake stick to anodized aluminum very well).
To be fair, I've never put DuraCoat on metal that's smooth (like a piece of polished stainless), but I'd be afraid that like any product, it wouldn't stick very well.

What's different about DuraBake is that when you bake the metal at 350 degrees F the polymer almost seems to melt a bit, and the resulting finish is very smooth and uniform, and looks quite professional. That's the reason I like it right there.

If you don't have access to a sandblast cabinet, then something around 400 grit (sandpaper) will be fine. Just scuff the surface of the metal with it.
Sandblasting gives a very a uniform finish to the metal, and that enhances the final appearance. Plastic looks great with DuraCoat or DuraBake, and doesn't need any prep other that cleaning with hot water and detergent.

G.

Duracoat says that all that is needed to heat cure is 1 hour at 110*F.  I guess higher heat and longer doesn't hurt but I doubt it helps any.

Scotchbrite and acetone or Denatured Alcohol. Bead blasting is not necessary unless you need to even out the original surface finish. Even then you need to go over the blasted area with scotchbrite so the paint will adhere to the surface polished by the glass beads. I know some guys are going to ridicule me for saying this, but I haven't said a thing here that Cerakote and Duracoat haven't put in their instructions. Duracoat would prefer you use their surface prep, but I have been using acetone or alcohol for a long time with perfect adhesion.