Myname is Iris Dingemanse, from Avans University in the Nederlands, presently undertaking my graduation placement, which is my second placement here at Staffordshire University.

After performing research into footwear polymers in my first project I am currently testing and developing packaging materials for retaining residues of ignitable liquids, such as petrol, used in relation to arson investigation. In the UK nylon-11 polymer bags are mostly used as containers for collecting and storing fire debris prior to chemical analysis to identify the class characteristics of any ignitable liquids that may be present in the fire debris or on suspects’ or victims’ clothing. However, as reported in the literature these bags do have some disadvantages such as certain components may migrate through the polymer membrane, may demonstrate background interferences and can easily be pierced or torn by sharp items. The aim of this research project is to test and develop packaging materials for the purpose of overcoming some of these disadvantages, with the principal aim to eliminate the loss of volatile components by migration through the membrane. I am testing the migration rates of key volatile chemical components in closed systems and using industry standard methods of analysis such as automated thermal desorption-gas chromatography (ATD-GC).