Revista de investigación forense

A Comparison of Adhesive Tape-Separation Methods from Surfaces; Dipping in Liquid Nitrogen, Liquid Nitrogen Spray and an Adhesive Neutralizer Method

Abstract

Sun-Min Kim and Sunwook Hong

The separation methods of duct tape, packing tape, aluminum foil tape, clear tape, electrical tape and the semi-transparent tape was studied. Adhesive-side to adhesive-side adhered tapes, adhesive-side to non-adhesiveside adhered tapes and adhesive-side to A4 paper adhered tapes were prepared, and the performance of three separation methods (dipping in liquid nitrogen, liquid nitrogen spraying with a cryogun and application of Un-Du) were compared. The fingermarks on the surface of the adhesive surface were developed with Adhesive Side Developer (duct tape, packing tape and aluminum foil tape) and Rose Bengal dye dissolved in a phase-transfer catalyst (clear tape, semi-transparent tape). No differences were observed between the dipping in liquid nitrogen and liquid nitrogen spray methods with respect to the following features: tape fracture and brittleness; transfer of adhesive material to the adhesive-facing side of the tape; separation of the adhesive material from the plastic backing layer; and fingermark development. Un-Du method was successful in separating adhesive-side to adhesive-side adhered tapes, adhesive-side to non-adhesive-side adhered tapes and adhesive-side to A4 paper adhered tapes. We also confirmed a decrease in fingermark quality when using the Un-Du method.