Thermal analysis as an aid to forensics: Alkane melting and oxidative stability of wool

Interdisciplinary methods and thermal analytical techniques in particular are effective tools in aiding the identification and characterization of materials in question involved in civil or criminal law. Forensic material science uses systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through analysis, observation and experimentation. Thermal analytical data can be used to aid the legal system in interpreting technical variations in quite often a complex system.Calorimetry and thermal microscopic methods helped define a commercial product composed of alkanes that was involved in a major law suit. The solid-state structures of a number of normal alkanes have unique crystal structures. These alkanes melt and freeze below room temperature to more than 60C below zero. Mixtures of specific alkanes have attributes of pure chemicals. The X-ray diffraction structure of a mixture of alkanes is the same as a pure alkane, but the melting and freezing temperature are significantly lower than predicted. The jury ruled that the product containing n-alkanes had the appropriate melting characteristics. The thermal-physical properties made a commercial fluid truly unique and there was no advertising infringement according to the law and the jury trialA combination of thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis, infrared spectroscopy and macrophotography were used to conduct an extensive modeling and analysis of physical evidence obtained in a mobile home fire and explosion. A person's death was allegedly linked to the misuse of a kerosene space heater. The thermal analytical techniques showed that external heating was the cause of the space heater's deformation, not a firing of the heater with gasoline and kerosene. (Copyright (c) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)