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Poster De Conférence Année : 2023

Development of a microfluidic device for the analysis of nuclear samples

Résumé

The miniaturization and integration of analytical tools in microfluidic devices, in the form of labs-on-chip or micro total analysis systems (µ-TAS), currently offer several advantages: the opportunity to analyze rare samples with limited quantities available, to better control parameters that influence reactions, and to develop portable systems for on-site analyses. In the nuclear field, an additional advantage consists in reducing the volume of samples to handle and the corresponding doses, the amount of reagents, as well as the amount of produced waste and the necessary costs for their specific management. Indeed, in order to characterize the elemental and isotopic composition of samples for the management of effluents from nuclear facilities, of those resulting from processing steps or of spent fuels, various purification steps by solid phase extraction are necessary, upstream of mass spectrometry measurements (ICP-MS, TIMS). While there are established protocols to perform radionuclides separation such as U and Pu from commercial resins (e.g. UTEVA™, TBP™, TRU™), those are time-consuming and require large volumes of resins and eluents. This work aims to develop a separative microsystem including a monolithic support in order to reduce the scale of nuclear samples purification protocols. First, different materials (e.g. glass, thermoplastics) for the microsystem conception were evaluated in order to find the best compromise in relation to the targeted application. These were compared in terms of resistance to concentrated acids which are associated with the sample matrices and the radiochemical separation conditions; in terms of ease and repeatability of monolith anchoring process in the microsystem channels; and of cost and ease of shaping. To date, most monoliths described in literature are synthesized and anchored in silica capillaries or glass chips, materials that are easily functionalized unlike thermoplastic polymers such as cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which are known to be chemically inert but easily shaped. Organic monoliths bearing phosphate monomers with a good affinity for actinides have been synthesized by photopolymerization in commercial microsystem channels or internally fabricated by micromilling. Particular attention was paid to limit diffusion effects during monoliths synthesis. The different functionalized microsystems were characterized in terms of morphology and permeability before developing their coupling with an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). Dedicated quantification methods have been developed to determine on-line their selectivity towards simulants (U, Th, and Eu as simulants for radionuclides U, Pu, and Am) in different media as well as their loading capacity. The development of these different steps in a conventional laboratory is essential to validate the downscaling of the separation protocol before applying it to the purification of radioactive samples, requiring a transposition in a glove box in a controlled area.
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Dates et versions

cea-04288525 , version 1 (16-11-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : cea-04288525 , version 1

Citer

Marine Boudias, Erwan Dupuis, Sébastien Mialle, Alexandre Quemet, Carole Bresson. Development of a microfluidic device for the analysis of nuclear samples. Journées plénières GDR MNF, Apr 2023, Lyon, France. 2023. ⟨cea-04288525⟩
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