Application of photoluminescent CdS/PAMAM nanocomposites in fingerprint detection

Uniform and well-dispersed photoluminescent semiconductor CdS (cadmium sulfide) QDs (quantum dots) were in situ prepared inside Generation 4.0-NH2 PAMAM (polyamidoamine) dendrimers in methanol, methanol and water mixed solutions of volume ratio 1:9, respectively. The prepared solutions containing photoluminescent semiconductor CdS QDs were utilized for detection of cyanoacrylate ester fumed fingerprints on tinfoil. The results show that fumed latent fingerprints treated with prepared CdS/PAMAM nanocomposites in methanol, 1:9 methanol:water mixed solutions emit pale yellow-green and orange luminescence respectively under ultraviolet excitation of 365 nm from an UV LED. Fumed fingerprints were successfully detected with good resolving rate and the mechanism was studied in detail. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.