In crime scenes, adhesive tapes are regularly found. Adhesives can be found on one or both sides of the tape. The surface contact of the adhesive part of the tape can leave a residue on that surface. This evidence can be of value and help to complete the full profile of the crime scene. The actual adhesive can help to distinguish the type of tape used in the crime. Duct tape and electrical tape are most commonly used, but other minor tapes of packing tape, filament tape, and masking tape can also be found. The purpose of this study is to determine if Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) can be used for adhesive analyses. In LIBS, a laser pulse is focused on a surface; the focused pulse heats, ablates, ionizes, and atomizes the surface material. This results in the formation of a plasma and the light from the plasma is collected, spectrally resolved, and detected usually in the form of a spectrum. The LIBS spectrum contains the elemental signature of the sample. LIBS has many applications and can be used for both quantitative and qualitative analyses. In this study, LIBS was used to analyze the adhesive side of the tape samples; these samples included duct tape, electrical tape, masking tape, packaging tape, filament tapes, and medical tape samples. The spectral data was collected from 220 to 950 nm and analyzed to determine if unique spectral lines could be found for the various tapes analyzed.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the analysis of adhesive analysis of various tapes

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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