Forensic Application of

Fluorescence
Fiber
By: Team Yellow
September 15,2010

Fiber as
Evidence

Trace evidence
Collected and analyzed when there has been a

personal contact
- homicide, assault, sexual offenses
- hit-and-run, other vehicle accidents
- burglaries
Advantage
- can remain intact for years
- easily transferred
Disadvantage
- class characteristics only
- adhering problems due to type of fiber or
type of receiving
material

Uses in forensic science

labs

Examine transferred fibers and compare them to a

known or reference fiber to find its origin

Fluorescence of the dyes are added to fibers
Identification/Comparison: 1) Type e.g. synthetic
polymer
and 2) Subtype e.g. nylon
Main classification scheme: method of dye
application
Ex) acid (wool or silk), basic (polyester), direct
(cotton or rayon), disperse (polyester or acetate)
dyes
Cannot identify a particular dye or mixture of dyes

Analytical Methods
Polarized light microscopy (PLM)
Energy dispersive X-ray analysis
Thin layer chromatography (TLC)
High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
Pyrolysis gas chromatography (PGC)
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy
UV-VIS & Fluorescence MSP:

nondestructive, prevent contamination,

decrease overall analysis, are direct, and
inexpensive

Microspectrophotometry
The technique of measuring the light absorbed,

reflected, or emitted by a microscopic specimen at

different wavelengths. (The Free Dictionary)
VIS, UV/VIS, and fluorescence microspectrophotometry
offer direct, relatively inexpensive, and informative
means of characterizing dyed fibers.
(Morgan, et
al., 2004. p.1)
Cantrell collected and analyzed over 3,000 types of fibers
from movie theater seats and concluded that;
- Even though fibers are mass-produced, most fibers
exhibit high variability.
- Fluorescence, in particular, was found to add
considerable discrimination even within common fiber
class/color combinations.
(Morgan, et al., 2004)

Instrument
Light Source: UV-VIS uses Xenon,

Fluorescence MSP uses Mercury lamp

Detector: QDI 1000
Microspectrophotometer (MSP) using
GRAMS/AI 7.00 software for data acquisition

Detector
100 scans of four different yellow fibers where taken and

averaged over a spectrum range of 200-850nm

Two multivarient data analysis to record and obtain
numerous spectra with more than one feature
1. Principle Component Analysis (PCA)
--Unsupervised technique
--Determines linear combinations between original
variations and maximum variations of data set
2. Linear Discrimination Analysis (LDA)
--Supervised technique

--Determine linear combinations of features that best

separate the data into two or more predefined groups

UV-VIS using PCA vs. LDA

Excitation and Emission

Spectra

Fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of LysoTracker

Red DND-99
in pH 5.2 buffer
(Invitrogen)

Emission Spectra

Emission spectra of dyed fibers

(Morgan, et al., 2004)

Emission Spectra

Emission spectra of red acrylic fiber using different

excitation wavelengths
(Morgan, et al., 2004)

Absorption vs. Fluorescence spectrum of 3

red polyester fibers (at excitation 546nm)

Potential problems,
Interferences

When dealing with fibers you must know a head

of time the general chemical nature, i.e.: Acidic,

basic, or neutral
Two other types of interference are: extraction
solvents & possible degradations e.g. organic
solvents used in the extraction of the fiber dye
can either negatively impact the separation or
present interferences to a UVvisible detector
Solution: Antioxidants, prompt analysis, and low
extraction temperatures are used to combat
against dyes that have been degraded

Conclusion
1. The groups of fluorescence spectra can

be visually distinguished from one another,

which cannot be done with the UV-VIS
spectra
2. At least for certain fiber/dye
combinations, fluorescence spectra appear
to exhibit higher discrimination power than
UV-VIS absorbance spectra
Fluorescing textile fiber with
365 nm excitation. (Photo and
spectra courtesy Dr. Paul Martin,
CRAIC Technologies Corp.)

References
Invitrogen. (2010). Product spectra. Retrieved from

http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/support/Prod
uct-Technical-Resources/Product-Spectra.7528p52.html
Microspectrophotometry. The American Heritage
Medical Dictionary. (2007). Retrieved from
http://medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/microspectrophotometry
Morgan, S. L., Nieuwland, A. A., Mubarak, C. R., Hendrix,
J. E., Enlow, E. M., & Vasser, B. J. (2004). Forensic
discrimination of dyed textile fibers using UV-VIS and
fluorescence microspectrophotometry. Proceedings of the
European Fibres Group, 25 May 2004. Retrieved from
http://www.chem.sc.edu/faculty/morgan/pubs/Bartick_et_
al_EuropeanFibresGroup_2004.pdf