Forensic evaluation of 10 types of rubber popularly used with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy

作者：Jungang Lv, Jimin Feng · 发表于：International Journal of Polymer Analysis and Characterization · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1080/1023666x.2025.2496299 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Forensic Fingerprint Detection Methods、Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis、NMR spectroscopy and applications

Rubber is a type of important evidence in forensic cases, for example, in traffic accident cases. It can help identify or exclude suspected vehicles by analyzing and comparing rubber evidence left on site when the vehicle brakes with the samples from suspected vehicles. In many other cases, rubber products are also important investigative clues because of their widespread application in daily life. Currently, there are 10 types of rubber popularly used in China. Infrared spectroscopy can effectively distinguish the 10 types of rubber. However, only comparing the shapes of infrared spectra from the samples left on sites and from suspected samples generates risks in differentiation, as some weak characteristic peaks are easily overlooked, leading to misjudgment in forensics. It is necessary to have a clear understanding of these characteristic peaks and their chemical bond assignments to achieve identification more effectively and quickly. So, the main and auxiliary indicative peaks were summarized and interpreted. The results showed that infrared can provide safer and more reliable detection results in cases; the assignments of the peaks also added basic information and would be helpful to future microplastics studies.