The Effect of Coagulation on Drying Blood Droplets
Blood is a mixture of biological colloids and polymers, the drying of which has been examined for some time. These experiments have all used anticoagulants such as EDTA and tri-sodium citrate to extend the lifetime and transportability of the blood by preventing coagulation, making it easier to perform laboratory experiments. While experiments using anticoagulated blood produce useful information for personalised medicine, they may be of limited relevance for the typical crime scene. To extend the usefulness of blood droplet research to real-life crime scenes where coagulation naturally occurs, this research explores the viability of reintroducing a coagulation-like process to samples containing anticoagulant via the addition of calcium chloride in order to examine how the process affects a change in droplet evaporation.
