The radionuclide 67Cu is still attracting considerable interest owing to its favorable nuclear properties for theranostics. It decays through the emission of a medium-energy β-particle (Eβ-=141keV ) and γ-radiation (Eγ =185keV), which makes it suitable for both therapy and diagnosis. Production of 67Cu is very challenging due to the very low cross-sections of all potential reactions. Generally, 67Cu can be produced using zinc targets eg. by 68Zn(p,2p) reaction, which requires high energy and high intensity proton beams and long irradiation times. Under these irradiation conditions, a variety of radionuclides are generated including 67Ga (T1/2=3.2617d), which presents the same γ-lines of 67Cu and heavily interferes with the measurement of 67Cu yield. This work was aimed at investigating a highly efficient separation process of Cu radioisotopes from the Zn target and, in particular, from the Ga impurities. Therefore, this procedure could be employed for the precise measurement of the nuclear cross-sections of the various possible routes to 67Cu production and for yield optimization studies. Ion-exchange solid phase extraction was employed as separation method.

High yield separation of Cu-67 from irradiated zinc targets

Martini, P
Primo
;
Boschi, A
Secondo
;
Mou, L;Uccelli, L;Duatti, A;Pupillo, G
2017

Abstract

The radionuclide 67Cu is still attracting considerable interest owing to its favorable nuclear properties for theranostics. It decays through the emission of a medium-energy β-particle (Eβ-=141keV ) and γ-radiation (Eγ =185keV), which makes it suitable for both therapy and diagnosis. Production of 67Cu is very challenging due to the very low cross-sections of all potential reactions. Generally, 67Cu can be produced using zinc targets eg. by 68Zn(p,2p) reaction, which requires high energy and high intensity proton beams and long irradiation times. Under these irradiation conditions, a variety of radionuclides are generated including 67Ga (T1/2=3.2617d), which presents the same γ-lines of 67Cu and heavily interferes with the measurement of 67Cu yield. This work was aimed at investigating a highly efficient separation process of Cu radioisotopes from the Zn target and, in particular, from the Ga impurities. Therefore, this procedure could be employed for the precise measurement of the nuclear cross-sections of the various possible routes to 67Cu production and for yield optimization studies. Ion-exchange solid phase extraction was employed as separation method.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11392/2508231
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 0
social impact