Abstract

This study was aimed at developing activated carbon fingerprint powder derived from banana peel. The obtained powder was then examined for its latent fingerprint identifying capability. First, the banana peel activated carbon powder was ground into fine particles and consequently was sieved using a 400-mesh screen. The powder’s adherent quality was evaluated by dusting it to the residue left by the friction ridge skin on the fingers. The materials added and varied to formulate the fingerprint powder were sodium acetate (5.0-25.0%), mineral oil (0.25-2.00%), and methylene blue (0.1-0.3%). The aforementioned powder was also observed for its surface characteristics using SEM to determine the adherence of a finger ridge on a non-porous substrate in comparism to a commercial powder. It was found that the increased addition of sodium acetate and mineral oil significantly improved the powder’s capability to adhere to latent fingerprints.  The combinations that gave the better fingerprinting quality were formulas with sodium acetate and mineral oil at 20.0 and 2.00%, respectively. Furthermore, an increase of methylene blue in the formula also affected the powder quality. The best friction ridge appearance was from the powder with methylene blue added at dosage of 0.2%.

Key words: Fingerprint powder, banana peel activated carbon, sodium acetate, mineral oil, methylene blue.