Radiochemical separation and quality assessment for the ⁶⁸Zn target based ⁶⁴Cu radioisotope production

Abstract

The radiochemical separation of the different radionuclides (⁶⁴Cu, ⁶⁷Cu, ⁶⁷Ga, ⁶⁶Ga, ⁵⁶Ni, ⁵⁷Ni, ⁵⁵Co, ⁵⁶Co, ⁵⁷Co, ⁶⁵Zn, ¹⁹⁶Au) induced in the Ni supported Cu substrate — ⁶⁸Zn target system, which was bombarded with the 29.0 MeV proton beam, was performed by ion-exchange chromatography using successive isocratic and/or concentration gradient elution techniques. The overlapped gamma-ray spectrum analysis method was developed to assess the ⁶⁷Ga and ⁶⁷Cu content in the ⁶⁴Cu product and even in the post-⁶⁷Ga production ⁶⁸Zn target solution without the support of radiochemical separation. This method was used for the assessment of ⁶⁴⁺⁶⁷Cu radioisotope separation from ⁶⁷Ga, the quality control of ⁶⁴Cu product and the determination of the ⁶⁸Zn (p,2p)⁶⁷Cu reaction yield. The improvement in the targetry and the optimization of proton beam energy for the ⁶⁸Zn target based ⁶⁴Cu and ⁶⁷Ga production were proposed based on the stopping power and range of the incident proton and on the excitation functions, reaction yields and different radionuclides induced in the target system.