The application of chitosan-based micropowders in development of latent fingermarks

Abstract

Latent fingermarks are common type of traces found at the crime scene. Therefore, their visualization and enhancement are widely used techniques in identification of offenders and accomplices by law enforcement agencies worldwide. Chemical and physical methods seemed to be reliable for that purpose and have now been used for years. Therefore, researchers focus their work in order to discover new methods for detection and visualization of latent fingermarks. In this regard, the usage of polymeric materials, especially biopolymers, has not yet been sufficiently tested, and scientific public is almost unaware of the potential of these materials in forensic science. In this paper, conjugates based on chitosan were obtained by the precipitating method and their application in detection and visualization of latent fingermarks was examined. The results demonstrated that this bio-based powder system could be potentially used as substitutes for commercially used powders in detecting and visualizing of latent fingermarks.