Overview of nano-enabled screening of drug-facilitated crime: A promising tool in forensic investigation

Drug analysis is an important branch of modern analytical chemistry with many legal and socially relevant implications in forensic investigations. As the use of traditional approaches is associated with the issues of cost-effectiveness, instrumentation constraints, and sensitivity, drug analysis necessitates the use of nanotechnology. Therefore, driven by the need to detect illicit drugs, nanodevices can play an important role as efficient tools in this field, considering their well-known advantages of sensitivity, selectivity, easy functioning, affordability, and capability of miniaturization and automation. The limited use of nanodevices in the forensic practice has been evidenced by the inadequate number of studies published on nanoprobes, nanosensors, and nanochips. Thus, this critical review suggests the potential of this new-fangled area of research, which aimed to describe new techniques for the “on-site” analysis of forensic drugs at trace levels; these techniques may serve as revolutionary protective tools in the field of crime scene investigation.