Perspectives of Electroanalytical Sensing of Gunshot Residues

Abstract

Gunshot residues occurring on a crime scene or on the body of the suspect are forensic clue for the criminalists. With the growing demand of safety, there is a motivation to develop and introduce reliable and rapid sensing systems to detect gunshot residues. The sensing systems based on electrochemical principles possess a high sensitivity and specificity and are applicable in the alternative site testing (at a crime scene). This report summarizes the particular features of sampling and advantages of sensing of the gunshot residues using electrochemical methods. It is shown that the voltammetric sensors are attractive for the gunshot residue analysis. The success of voltammetric detection is connected with an introduction of new approaches in the field of sampling (particularly “swipe and scan”), new types of electrode materials and miniaturization.