Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy
Degradation of fingermark residue has a major impact on the successful forensic detection of latent fingermarks. The time course of degradation has been previously explored with bulk chemical analyses, but little is known about chemical alterations within specific regions of the fingermark, which is...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society of Chemistry
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT190100017 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/92984 |
| _version_ | 1848765683493502976 |
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| author | Boseley, Rhiannon Vongsvivut, J. Appadoo, D. Hackett, Mark Lewis, Simon |
| author_facet | Boseley, Rhiannon Vongsvivut, J. Appadoo, D. Hackett, Mark Lewis, Simon |
| author_sort | Boseley, Rhiannon |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Degradation of fingermark residue has a major impact on the successful forensic detection of latent fingermarks. The time course of degradation has been previously explored with bulk chemical analyses, but little is known about chemical alterations within specific regions of the fingermark, which is difficult to study with bulk measurement. Here we report the use of synchrotron-sourced attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) microspectroscopy to provide spatio-temporal resolution of chemical changes within fingermark droplets, as a function of time since deposition, under ambient temperature conditions. Eccrine and sebaceous material within natural fingermark droplets were imaged on the micron scales at hourly intervals from the time of deposition until the first 7–13 hours after deposition, revealing that substantial dehydration occurred within the first 8 hours. Changes to lipid material were more varied, with samples exhibiting an increase or decrease in lipid concentration due to the degradation and redistribution of this material. Across 12 donors, it was noticeable that the initial chemical composition and morphology of the droplet varied greatly, which appeared to influence the rate of change of the droplet over time. Further, this study attempted to quantify the total water content within fingermark samples. The wide-spread nature and strength of the absorption of Terahertz/Far-infrared (THz/Far-IR) radiation by water vapour molecules were exploited for this purpose, using THz/Far-IR gas-phase spectroscopy. Upon heating, water confined in natural fingermarks was evaporated and expanded in a vacuum chamber equipped with multipass optics. The amount of water vapour was then quantified by high-spectral resolution analysis, and fingermarks were observed to lose approximately 14–20 μg of water. The combination of both ATR-FTIR and Far-IR gas-phase techniques highlight important implications for experimental design in fingermark research, and operational practices used by law enforcement agencies. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:39:09Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-92984 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:39:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | The Royal Society of Chemistry |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-929842023-08-28T01:13:11Z Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy Boseley, Rhiannon Vongsvivut, J. Appadoo, D. Hackett, Mark Lewis, Simon Science & Technology Physical Sciences Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry LATENT FINGERPRINTS DEPOSITION QUALITY AGE Dermatoglyphics Forensic Medicine Optics and Photonics Spectrophotometry, Infrared Synchrotrons Spectrophotometry, Infrared Dermatoglyphics Forensic Medicine Synchrotrons Optics and Photonics Degradation of fingermark residue has a major impact on the successful forensic detection of latent fingermarks. The time course of degradation has been previously explored with bulk chemical analyses, but little is known about chemical alterations within specific regions of the fingermark, which is difficult to study with bulk measurement. Here we report the use of synchrotron-sourced attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) microspectroscopy to provide spatio-temporal resolution of chemical changes within fingermark droplets, as a function of time since deposition, under ambient temperature conditions. Eccrine and sebaceous material within natural fingermark droplets were imaged on the micron scales at hourly intervals from the time of deposition until the first 7–13 hours after deposition, revealing that substantial dehydration occurred within the first 8 hours. Changes to lipid material were more varied, with samples exhibiting an increase or decrease in lipid concentration due to the degradation and redistribution of this material. Across 12 donors, it was noticeable that the initial chemical composition and morphology of the droplet varied greatly, which appeared to influence the rate of change of the droplet over time. Further, this study attempted to quantify the total water content within fingermark samples. The wide-spread nature and strength of the absorption of Terahertz/Far-infrared (THz/Far-IR) radiation by water vapour molecules were exploited for this purpose, using THz/Far-IR gas-phase spectroscopy. Upon heating, water confined in natural fingermarks was evaporated and expanded in a vacuum chamber equipped with multipass optics. The amount of water vapour was then quantified by high-spectral resolution analysis, and fingermarks were observed to lose approximately 14–20 μg of water. The combination of both ATR-FTIR and Far-IR gas-phase techniques highlight important implications for experimental design in fingermark research, and operational practices used by law enforcement agencies. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/92984 10.1039/D1AN02293H English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT190100017 The Royal Society of Chemistry restricted |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry LATENT FINGERPRINTS DEPOSITION QUALITY AGE Dermatoglyphics Forensic Medicine Optics and Photonics Spectrophotometry, Infrared Synchrotrons Spectrophotometry, Infrared Dermatoglyphics Forensic Medicine Synchrotrons Optics and Photonics Boseley, Rhiannon Vongsvivut, J. Appadoo, D. Hackett, Mark Lewis, Simon Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy |
| title | Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy |
| title_full | Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy |
| title_fullStr | Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy |
| title_short | Monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy |
| title_sort | monitoring the chemical changes in fingermark residue over time using synchrotron infrared spectroscopy |
| topic | Science & Technology Physical Sciences Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry LATENT FINGERPRINTS DEPOSITION QUALITY AGE Dermatoglyphics Forensic Medicine Optics and Photonics Spectrophotometry, Infrared Synchrotrons Spectrophotometry, Infrared Dermatoglyphics Forensic Medicine Synchrotrons Optics and Photonics |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT190100017 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/92984 |