Gold is going forensic

Abstract

Not long ago, forensic science was mainly focused on fingerprint detection. With the advance in science and technology, forensics has become an increasingly interesting scientific field to explore, and gold is playing an increasingly important role in this area. Gold compounds and gold nanoparticles contribute to fingerprint detection and illicit drug testing. Fingerprints can be detected on diverse suspected articles after being covered with gold followed by another metal such as zinc utilizing vacuum metal deposition technique. An important advantage of using gold in forensic science has been the long-term storage of developed fingerprints due to its inert nature in addition to the high selectivity and the sensitivity of gold nanoparticles. Gold also forms microcrystals with cocaine and heroin of identifiable morphology. © The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com.