Contribution to the development of new analytical methods by the coupling between capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry (ICP-MS and ESI-MS): applications to the nuclear and biological fields

The coupling between chromatographic and electrophoretic separation techniques and mass spectrometry is used to combine the efficiency of the separation technique to the selectivity and sensitivity of the detectors. In this work, the number of applications of the CE-MS couplings has been increased. New analytical methods have been set up in the nuclear and biological fields. New analytical methods for the determination of fission products (cesium and lanthanides) have been developed by CE-ICP-MS. They enable to determine both concentration and isotopic composition of the fission products for very low detection limits (ng/mL by CE-Q-ICPMS, pg/mL by CE-HR-ICP-MS), since all the isobaric interferences are resolved. Moreover, only some nano-liters of sample are necessary to perform the analysis. These method have been applied with success to a simulated sample of spent fuel, to a nuclear sample from PUREX process and to a leaching of MOX fuel. Then, lanthanides have been analysed by CE-ESI-MS and the capability of ESI-MS to provide structural information has been studied. Elementary information has been obtained for strong potentials. Structural information has been obtained for low potentials. Finally, a new analytical method by CE-ESI-MS for the determination of 10B-boronophenylalanine (10B-BPA) has been developed for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). It has been applied to the cellular lines F98 and HUVEC. This CE-ESI-MS method has been validated by HR-ICP-MS. It enables a direct quantification of the chemical form 10B-BPA in samples of limited size (some nano-liters) and for low concentrations (ng/mL). As a consequence, this CE-ESI-MS method has enabled the study of the kinetics of 10B-BPA release and uptake for the F98 cells. (author)