Journal de recherche médico-légale

A Summary of Taggant Materials in Forensic Science

Abstract

Prakash Jha

The use of taggant technology to mark things so they can be identified is becoming an important part of national strategies to reduce crime. By associating an object with a specific piece of information, taggants may be able to prevent or monitor crimes. A specific "coding" element will typically be included to infer marker uniqueness, despite the fact that the material properties of a taggant will largely vary depending on the application. Continuing advancements in portable in-field analysis, nanotechnology, and material science ought to have made it possible to develop new and improved forensic marking agents because the speed, simplicity, and accuracy of coding component analysis largely determine the overall efficacy of taggants. Nevertheless, the scant amount of recent research in this field suggests otherwise. Before attempting to provide insight into the direction that forensic marking technology will take in the future, this critical review therefore examines the state of the taggants that are currently available.