This chapter presents improvements for the nondestructive fluorescence analysis of forensic evidence. Nondestructive techniques that can either discriminate between similar fibers or match a known to a questioned fiber—and still preserve the physical integrity of the fibers for further court examination—are highly valuable in forensic science. Differences in cross-sectional shape, type of fiber material (natural or synthetic), weave, and color usually make possible to rule out a common source for the known and questioned fiber. Previous to our research, most fluorescence articles reported fiber measurements made with excitation and emission band-pass filters, i.e., an approach that took no advantage of the information content that exists in the spectral signatures of fluorescence samples textile fibers. Research efforts in our group developed instrumentation and experimentation for the collection of excitation and emission spectra and excitation–emission matrices from single textile fibers. When combined with chemometric approaches, these data formats are able to discriminate among visually indistinguishable fibers, identify exogeneous substances on textile fibers that may prove useful in matching a trace fiber to its bulk specimen of origin, and provide information on the weathering history of the fiber.
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