Characterization of a Novel Co2TiO4 Nanopowder for the Rapid Identification of Latent and Blood Fingerprints

Co2TiO4 nanopowders for detecting latent and blood fingerprints were prepared by a traditional coprecipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results from morphological and componential characterization showed that green Co2TiO4 nanopowders with inverse spinel structure were almost spherical and uniform in size without any impurities. To demonstrate the effectiveness of Co2TiO4 nanopowders, powder dusting and small particle reagent methods were successfully used to develop latent and blood fingerprints on various substrates including nonporous surfaces, semiporous surfaces, and porous surfaces. The principles of the small particle reagent method for developing latent blood fingerprints were also investigated. Our experiments on lit aged fingerprints exhibited high sensitivity, high contrast, and high selectivity, suggesting that Co2TiO4 nanopowders may be a novel probe to develop both latent and blood fingerprints at crime scenes due to their fine ridge details, ease of use, and rapidness.