Sonochemically assisted hollow/solid BaTiO3:Dy3+ microspheres and their applications in effective detection of latent fingerprints and lip prints

Abstract Nanostructured materials find potential benefits for surface-based science such as latent fingerprints (LFPs) and lip print detection on porous and non-porous surfaces. To encounter the drawbacks viz. low sensitivity, high background hindrance, complicated procedure and high toxicity associated with traditional fluorescent powders were resolved by using hollow/solid BaTiO 3 :Dy 3+ (1–5 mol %) microspheres. The visualization of LFPs stained by the optimized BaTiO 3 :Dy 3+ (2 mol %) hollow/solid microspheres exhibits well-defined ridge patterns with high sensitivity, low background hindrance, high efficiency and low toxicity on various surfaces. The powder X-ray diffraction results revealed the body centered cubic phase of the prepared samples. The emission spectra exhibit intensive peaks at ∼480, 575, and 637 nm, which were attributed to transitions 4 F 9/2 → 6 H J (J = 15/2, 13/2, 11/2) of Dy 3+ ions, respectively. Surface morphologies were extensively studied with different sonication times and concentrations of the used barbituric acid. The Commission International De I-Eclairage (CIE) and Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) analyses revealed that the present phosphor is highly useful for the fabrication of white light emitting diodes.