Fingerprints are one of the crucial pieces of evidence in criminal investigations. As fngerprints are majorly found in latent form on the surface, it is necessary
to develop those latent fngerprints appropriately without destroying them or leaving out any detail. Tere are plenty of methods for identifying hidden fnger impressions. Te powder dusting method, ninhydrin, iodine fuming, cyanoacrylate etc., are traditional methods. Tough these procedures help to develop the latent fngerprints,
they have some drawbacks such as sensitivity, low contrast, and selectivity as well as
high toxicity. To overcome this inadequacy, advanced techniques have been developed
using different chemicals and nanoparticles such as metal nanoparticles, fluorescent
nanoparticles embedded with quantum dots, rare-earth upconversion nanoparticles
etc. Te fluorescent nanomaterials enhanced all three levels of fngerprints and provided the minute details of latent fngerprints. Tis review paper focuses on the role
of fluorescence-based methods used for the enhancement of the latent fngerprint and
their advantages over traditional methods. As compared to other approaches, fluorescent nanomaterials can obtain optimal contrast quality, enhancement, better sensitivity, and selectivity while exhibiting lower toxicity, less autofluorescence interference,
and low background inference.