Speciation of technologically critical elements in the environment using chromatography with element and molecule specific detection

Justyna Wojcieszek , Joanna Szpunar (1) , Ryszard Lobinski (1)

1 IPREM - Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux

The growing release of technology-critical elements (TCEs): Ga, Ge, In, Nb, Ta, Te, Tl, and most of the platinum group elements (PGEs), and rare earth elements (REEs) requires the understanding of their mobility, reactivity and chemical transformations in the environment which are critically dependent on their chemical form (speciation). The total concentrations of these elements at the trace levels make their speciation analysis challenging. Coupled techniques combining a high resolution chromatographic separation with ultrasensitive element-specific detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS) often offer the unique possibility of accessing the information on the identities and concentrations of individual metal species present in environmental samples. This paper reviews the advantages and limitations of these techniques to TCEs speciation and highlights the development trends in analytical methodology that may contribute to our understanding of the risks associated with the increasing environmental presence of TCEs.

Mots clés: Tellurium, Germanium, Thallium, Coupled techniques, REE, PGE

Domaines: Chimie

Justyna Wojcieszek, Joanna Szpunar, Ryszard Lobinski. Speciation of technologically critical elements in the environment using chromatography with element and molecule specific detection. Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 2018, 104, pp.42-53. ⟨10.1016/j.trac.2017.09.018⟩. ⟨hal-03133531⟩