Characterization of Motor Oils and Other Lubricants by High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Three-Dimensional Excitation Emission Matrices and Two-Dimensional Low Temperature Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Item
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Title
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Characterization of Motor Oils and Other Lubricants by High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Three-Dimensional Excitation Emission Matrices and Two-Dimensional Low Temperature Fluorescence Spectroscopy
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:a346fb5cad5e:11221
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identifier
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11489
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Creator
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Walsh, Kelly A.,
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Contributor
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Thomas A. Kubic
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Date
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2012
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Analytical chemistry | Criminology | fluorescence | forensic science | motor oils
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Abstract
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Criminals often use automobiles during the commission of crimes. Criminalists routinely analyze automotive transfer evidence, including paint, rubber and glass in order to establish an association between a suspect car and a person or object that may have come in contact with that car. Currently, there is no routine forensic method to analyze transferred automotive undercarriage residue. This feasibility study will use fluorescence spectroscopy, both room-temperature and low-temperature (77K), and HPLC, to analyze this material and will investigate the use of compiled spectral libraries to assist in determining the evidentiary value of this process for this sample set.;Automobile undercarriage residues are a complex mixture of compounds from many sources including automotive fluids, asphalt residues, exhaust particulates and tire particulates. Each of these sources may contain compounds that fluoresce when excited with light in the ultraviolet or visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Given the many sources of fluorescing compounds and the effect of environmental conditions on these compounds, it is hypothesized that the two-dimensional and three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum of automobile undercarriage residues along with HPLC analysis can be used to differentiate among automobiles.;Five undercarriage locations were swabbed from ten motor vehicles. Extraction via sonication in different solvents separated each residue into fractions. These fractions were analyzed by fluorescence spectroscopy and HPLC with UV detection. The types of fluorescence spectroscopy used were emission scans, synchronous scans, excitation-emission matrices, and low-temperature fluorescence spectroscopy. Previous studies with fluorescence characterization of lubricants relied on visual examination of the spectral data to determine differences or similarities (Purcell 2002). This study will use visual examination, peak number and position, chromatographic data and spectral libraries to show similarities and differences among the samples.;The research contributes to the body of knowledge about analytical methods that may characterize a long-observed transferable material, automotive undercarriage residue, to create associations between automobiles and persons or objects. These associations can be used to help the trier-of-fact decide upon the likelihood that an automobile came into contact with a person or object. Additionally, this research makes contributions to the field of environmental science which seeks to characterize petroleum-derived organic contaminants.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Criminal Justice
