A Crimefighter Called Ruth

Ruthenium Tetroxide (RuO4) is an inorganic oxide that has found its way into fingerprint residue revealing literature. Ruthenium Tetroxide even has a racy alias: RTX. As far as I know, it is not widely used. I ran across it in a recent Patricia Cornwell novel: Book of the Dead. Subsequent to this discovery I found [...]

Underwater Fingerprint Detection

Small Particle Reagent is used to detect latent fingerprints left on wet surfaces. The reagent is made of a suspension of fine molybdenum disulfide in a surfactant solution. Apparently, the particles adhere to the water insoluble fatty residues of fingerprints. Other materials besides molybdenum disulfide can be used as well: titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, magnetite [...]