Journal Published Online: 01 July 1993
Volume 38, Issue 4

An Improvement on Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography for the Differentiation of Photocopy Toners

CODEN: JFSCAS

Abstract

During the past two decades, the great increase of the use of photocopying machines has given the forensic scientists many practical difficulties in identifying the origins of copied documents. Analysis of chemical properties of toners can be helpful for photocopier discrimination. Several techniques including infrared spectroscopy (IR) pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) and scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) have been extensively used.

In this study, a Curie-point pyrolyser, a dual wide-bore capillary column GC equipped with dual flame ionization detectors (FIDs) and a personal computer were connected online. The differentiation of photocopier toners, however, was based both on the comparison of retention indices and on conventional pattern recognition. The proposed method including the library search is quite simple, reliable and low-cost.

Author Information

Chang, W-T
Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan
Huang, C-W
Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan
Giang, Y-S
Central Police University, Taoyvan, Taiwan Republic of China
Pages: 21
Price: $25.00
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Stock #: JFS13482J
ISSN: 0022-1198
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13482J