Analysis of Fountain Ink Pen on Different Writing Substrate using UV-Visible Spectroscopy

Abstract

Analysis of questioned documents has always been a priority in cases of forgery and has played an important role in forensic science. In this study, we have examined different writing substrates for comparative analysis of ink using UV-visible spectroscopy. A total 4 different substrates were taken from a local market in Delhi, India, and ink was extracted by different extraction methods and concluded one of the best suitable extraction methods for all the writing substrates and then observed using UV visible spectroscopy at wavelength from 200-700nm. Different substrate absorbs UV visible radiation at different wavelengths and intensities, so different substrate shows noticeable difference between each other. Comparative analysis of ink extraction was also done based on the absorbance of different substrates at a particular concentration. Absorbance value shows variation in different types of substrates due to the variability in the thickness of paper, filler material, roughness of paper, and manufacturing process. Henceforth, UV visible spectroscopy successfully differentiated the fountain ink pen on different writing substrates and can serve as an important application in the field of forensic questioned document analysis.