Page 39 - Veritas - 02.03.22

THE SIGNIFICANT

ROLE PLAYED BY

NANOPARTICLES

IN DEVELOPMENT

OF FINGERPRINTS

Ms. Blessy John Kalla

Mr. Rohan Mathew

INTRODUCTION

Fingerprints are one of the most significant pieces of evidence found

in the Scene of Crime (SoC) as they are unique, permanent, and can be

classified by analyzing friction ridge skin found on the tip of our

fingers. When in contact with a surface, it leaves a Latent Print (LP) due

to the secretions of apocrine, eccrine, and sebaceous glands.

Different techniques are employed for the development of latent

fingerprints found in the SoC, physical methods: dusting powder -

black, magnetic, fluorescent powders, and chemical methods - iodine,

cyanoacrylate fuming, silver nitrate.

Currently, a new method employed for fingerprint analysis uses

nanoparticles whose sizes range between 1 to 100 nanometers as it

produces high-quality images with clear ridge characteristics,

increased contrast against the background, and visibility. They have

properties like low size, large surface area, and optical properties that

favor the interaction of fingerprint residues with porous and non-

porous surfaces. The major advantage is it helps in the detection of

both fresh and aged fingerprints.