Deterring gun crime materially using forensic coatings.

Surface coatings that can help deter and solve gun crime are described. These nanoengineered coatings have been applied and evaluated on brass cartridge cases, where they increase associative forensic evidence through nanotag donation to the handler and the retention of handler's DNA. In future we expect this approach to be used for other surfaces and conditions.

In situ investigation of Pt(100--x)Au(x) and Pt(100--y)Sn(y) nanoalloys.

Dispersed sols of 1-10 nm sized Pt(100--x)Au(x) and Pt(100--y)Sn(y) nanoalloys have been prepared separately at various x and y above and below the miscibility limit in the bulk metals. Pt(100--x)Au(x) was derived from trisodium citrate reduction of aqueous solutions of H2PtCl6 and HAuCl4. Pt(100--y)-Sn(y) was produced by (i) complexing Sn2+ with glucose at 323 K at pH > 7, (ii) neutralising this with H2PtC16 addition and (iii) reducing the bimetallic precursor with glucose on raising the temperature to 373 K.