In today’s world of forensic science, many of the practices used have not been updated, and while many of these practices are still relevant, scientists are constantly striving to find new and better ways to analyze evidence. A very common practice is fingerprint detection and Identification. Fingerprints are left at crime scenes because of secretions such as blood, sweat, or any other natural fatty compound on a fingertip. Though these can be easily detected in prime conditions some fingerprints go unnoticed. In fact, it is estimated that up to 50% of fingerprints go undetected when they are analyzed by the lab. This is, for the most part not due to poor techniques or inadequate execution of said techniques but in fact, can be attributed to the techniques being out of date. Well, a team of researchers from Switzerland seems to have found a better way of detecting fingerprints. They have approached their research by using nanoparticles. In the study, the researchers applied “fingermarks” to a sheet of aluminum foil. They then submerged the sheet in an aqueous solution of silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles which was treated with a carboxyl group. This chemical group is called a carboxyl group composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The research team performed a number of tests to show the nanoparticles were attracted to the amine groups in the fingerprints (or the natural amino acids in the secreted fingermarks). The current running theory is an acidic solution in which the nanoparticles were placed in caused the “fingermark residue” to become positively charged. This then attracted the negatively charged nanoparticles. This process is allowing the finer detection of fingerprints because of the nanoparticles small size and optical properties. Overall, this looks promising for the forensic science world by bettering their ability to visually and chemically detect fingerprints!
Submitted by Sam Krause
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