Production of super(61)Cu by the super(nat)Zn(p, alpha ) reaction: improved separation and specific activity determination by titration with three chelators

• Published in: Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry 2016-02, Vol.307 (2), p.899-906
• Main Authors: Asad, Ali H, Smith, Suzanne V, Morandeau, Laurence M, Chan, Sun, Jeffery, Charmaine M, Price, Roger I
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0236-5731; 1588-2780
• DOI: 10.1007/s10967-015-4412-y

The cyclotron-based production of positron-emitting super(61)Cu using the (p, alpha ) reaction at 11.7 MeV was investigated starting from natural-zinc ( super(nat)Zn) and enriched super(64)Zn-foil targets, as well as its subsequent purification. For super(nat)Zn, a combination of three resins were assessed to separate super(61)Cu from contaminating super(66,67,68)Ga and super(nat)Zn. The specific activity of the purified super(61)Cu determined using ICP-MS analysis ranged from 143.3 plus or minus 14.3(SD) to 506.2 plus or minus 50.6 MBq/ mu g while the titration method using p-SCN-Bn-DOTA, p-SCN-Bn-NOTA and diamsar gave variable results (4.7 plus or minus 0.2-412.5 plus or minus 15.3 MBq/ mu g), with diamsar lying closest to the ICP-MS values. Results suggest that the p-SCN-Bn-DOTA and p-SCN-Bn-NOTA titration methods are significantly affected by the presence of trace-metal contaminants.