NANOFIBERS FROM POLYVINYL ALCOHOL AND CAN ENLARGE THE SET OF TRAPPED ODOROLOGICAL TRACES

We tested collecting abilities of nanofibers made from polyvinyl alcohol and calcofluor (PVAC) for odorological trace collection. Our study revealed that spectrum of odorological traces trapped on nanofibrous PVAC absorbent is more stable and reproducible compared to commonly used ARATEX TM. In addition, both PVA and PVAC nanofibers can adhere a large number of traces undetectable by ARATEX. Our results show that functionalization of commonly used absorbent ARATEX TM with PVA and PVAC nanofibers can vastly increase the accuracy of trace collection and, thus, significantly improve the forensic investigation