The dendrimer bonds to fingerprint residue by means of its terminal functional groups. When these are amino groups (generation 4 dendrimer), the binding is enhanced by fingerprint pretreatment with diimide. The diimide converts carboxylic acid moieties of the fingerprint residue to esters that then react with the dendrimer amino groups to form amide linkages. The cadmium sulfide/generation 4 dendrimer development of fingerprints is enhanced by elevated temperature also. Finally, fingerprint development with carboxylate-functionalized cadmium sulfide/generation 3.5 dendrimer nanocomposites was examined. Here, diimide treatment of the dendrimer itself aids the subsequent fingerprint labeling, which involves amino acid of the fingerprint residue. Nanocomposite fingerprint detection is compatible with time-resolved imaging for background fluorescence elimination. The researchers are now initiating investigation of a broad range of surfaces and are extending their studies to functionalized photoluminescent nanocrystals and composites beyond CdS. Along similar lines, they are examining the incorporation into dendrimer of highly luminescent lanthanide complexes, which have luminescences of millisecond-order lifetimes, suitable for the gated imaging to suppress background fluorescence that has been mature for some time from the instrumentation perspective. 5 figures and 8 references