Design and synthesis of silica- and silicate-based materials, and their application in the development and analysis of latent fingerprints

The research of new efficient materials as fingerprint powders has been receiving a lot of attention and interest from researchers of chemistry and material science. Up to now, due to multiple advantages of silica and silicate as matrix materials, numerous studies have been performed to design and synthesize silica- and silicate-based materials that can be applied to fingerprint development and analysis. In this review, we highlight the recent progress of this area from a unique perspective that considers the structure and function of matrix materials. Accordingly, the discussion of this review has been divided into four sections. In the end, with respect to the design, synthesis and forensic application of silica- and silicate-based materials as fingerprint powders, a summary based on previous research and perspectives on future research are presented.