NON-DESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF WHITE A4 OFFICE PAPERS USING ATR-FTIR SPECTROSCOPY AND CHEMOMETRIC PROCEDURES FOR FORENSIC APPLICATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/jurnalteknologi.v88.24770Keywords:
Forensic science, forensic document examiner, questioned documents, infrared spectroscopy, office paper, chemometricsAbstract
In forensic document examination, the physical and chemical properties of paper are important indicators for assessing the authenticity and origin of questioned documents. Preserving the integrity of paper samples is crucial to ensure reliable forensic analysis. Therefore, non-destructive analytical techniques are preferred. This study explores the application of Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy as a non-destructive method for analyzing commercially available white A4 office papers in Malaysia. ATR-FTIR allows the acquisition of molecular spectral data without damaging the sample, making it suitable for forensic casework. To enhance discrimination and classification performances, chemometrics techniques were employed, integrating Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). PCA was used to reduce data dimensionality and identify key spectral patterns, while LDA optimized classification by distinguishing between paper samples based on their spectral characteristics. This approach accounted for 99.96% of the total variance within the first three principal components (PCs) and achieved a cross-validation accuracy of 74.8% using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). These results signify that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, combined with chemometrics, offers a reliable, rapid, and non-destructive tool for discriminating white A4 office papers. The proposed method has strong potential to enhance forensic document examination by providing an objective and robust approach for document paper analysis.
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