Instrumental and Methodological Developments in Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography
Michel Héninger (Researcher), Joel Lemaire (Researcher), Essyllt Louarn (Associate Prof), Antoine Pallandre (Prof), Hélène Mastdagh (Prof Emerita), Taous Abar (PhD Student)
Alumni: Sébastien Thomas (PhD 2014-2018), Allan Lopes (Postdoc, 2018)
The CAPRI group has a longstanding expertise in the development of analytical instruments. Among its notable advancements are devices based on Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry and quadrupole filters. For example, they successfully developed a real-time sampling system for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their analysis through proton transfer ionization within a compact FTICR spectrometer. This technology has been applied to areas such as the analysis of plasma effluents for depollution purposes [Thomas2022] and could potentially extend to the analysis of sweat in medical contexts (PhD thesis by Taous Abar). Additionally, a collaboration with Air Liquide led to the development of a pharmacokinetic monitoring method for rare gases in blood, utilizing a quadrupole mass filter-based real-time analysis system. This system is also regularly employed for the monitoring and quantification of gaseous effluents from photocatalysis processes developed by the TEMIC group.
The MEGOPE project aims to perform in-operando analysis of intermediate species during the redox reactions of organic products in electrocatalysis. For this purpose, a Waters Triple Quad mass spectrometer was acquired, and collaborations with A. Aukauloo's group (ICMMO-Paris Saclay University) have facilitated the integration of electrochemical reactors with electrospray sources, thereby enhancing the spectroscopic characterization of reaction intermediates.

New ICR cell designed in the laboratory, derived from a cubic three-section cell in which two of the end-plates have been replaced by lateral sections made of four electrodes. The central section, in which ions are produced by electron ionization, react, and are detected. It has 3 × 3 × 3 cm internal dimensions and is positioned inside a permanent magnet of roughly 1.2 Tesla.