CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites as antibacterial fluorescent markers for enhanced latent fingerprint detection

•A facile method is developed for synthesis of CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites.•The CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites show efficient fluorescence.•The CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites are explored as alternative fluorescent markers for latent fingerprint detection.•The CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites provide better resolution, high sensitivity, and antibacterial activity.•The CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites may find potential application in forensic science.

This paper developed a facile method to synthesize CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites by coupling uniform Ag nanoparticles on core–shell CdTe@SiO2 quantum dots via simple impregnation of CdTe@SiO2 functionalized with amino groups in Ag nanoparticle sols. The obtained CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites show efficient fluorescence and effective antibacterial activities. Besides, because of the existence of SiO2, the CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites manifest strong adhesive affinity and chemical stability, allowing the long-term preservation of fluorescence and affording affinity with latent fingerprints. Thus, the CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites are explored as alternative fluorescent markers for latent fingerprint detection to provide better resolution, high sensitivity, and antibacterial activities. Meanwhile, the CdTe@SiO2/Ag nanocomposites may be used as alternative fluorescent markers for enhanced latent fingerprint detection on a variety of object surfaces in criminal science for individual identification.

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