New perspective of nanotechnology: role in preventive forensic

Generally, material scientist discussing new-fangled nanotechnology research and its conversation turns to the commercial aspects or potential issues around health, safety, and the environment. In recent years, few of them have been shown interest to apply nanotechnology for forensic purposes which are related to societal or community issues. In forensic science, nanotechnology majorly is applied to develop reactive (‘smart’) materials; micro-chip technology; nanomanipulators; nanoimaging tools for visualization. These advances in forensic technologies have mainly been focused on analytical techniques. These techniques are based on nanomaterials that are able to provide either improved performance over conventional techniques or enable to collect information from a crime scene that would not otherwise have been possible ever. Moreover, some crucial forensic issues such as cost and time effectiveness, wide availability, accuracy, and reliability of results are major concerns in forensic investigation and security. With the help of this review article, an attempt was made to elucidate how nanotechnologies could be crucial in addressing current forensic investigation issues such as collection and analysis of evidence from the crime scene and how these technologies may be helpful in preventive forensic and security measures.