Hybrid organic-inorganic silica based particles for latent fingermarks development: A review

•Papers on the hybrid materials for fingermarks development have been reviewed.•Current research have been summarized.•Future perspectives have been proposed.

Recent progress in nanotechnology has led to the emergence of many new methods of latent fingermarks development. However, there is still need for a material that is easy to detect and has a high affinity to the latent fingermarks ridges. One way to combine these two features are hybrid organic-inorganic silica based composite materials. The chemical nature of silica lets for its simple modification with various organic moieties by organosilanes chemistry. Moreover, nanoparticles, quantum dots, molecules etc. can be easily embedded in the silicate matrix. In this work, the use of silica based materials for fingermarks development have been summarized. Three main groups of the materials have been isolated: SiO2 based composites, porous phosphate heterostructures and desorption/ionization facilitating agents for surface-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

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