Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) is employed in the forensic analysis of chemical components present in condoms and imaging of latent fingerprints as circumstantial evidence of sexual assault. Polymers such as nonoxynol-9, polyethylene glycol, and polydimethylsiloxane, as well as small molecules additives such as N-methylmorpholine, N-octylamine, N,N-dibutyl formamide, and isonox 132, commonly used in lubricated condom formulations, were successfully characterized by DESI. The results suggest that DESI-MS is useful for identification of this type of evidence, and it has advantages over conventional extractive techniques, in terms of speed of analysis and ease of use.
Keywords: DESI; ambient ionization; condoms; forensics; polymers.
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