⁶⁴Cu enrichment using the Szilard-Chalmers effect – The influence of γ-dose

⁶⁴Cu enrichment using the Szilard-Chalmers effect – The influence of γ-dose

Moret, J.L.T.M. (TU Delft RID/KEWO/Stralingsbeschermingseenheid; TU Delft ChemE/Product and Process Engineering)
Hardens, T. A. (Student TU Delft)
van Batenburg, O. (Student TU Delft)
Wolterbeek, H.T. (TU Delft RST/Applied Radiation & Isotopes)
van Ommen, J.R. (TU Delft ChemE/Product and Process Engineering)
Denkova, A.G. (TU Delft RST/Applied Radiation & Isotopes)

2020

Cu is an important trace metal which plays a role in many biological processes. The radioisotope ⁶⁴Cu is often used to study such processes. Furthermore, ⁶⁴Cu finds applications in cancer diagnostics as well as therapy. For all of these applications ⁶⁴Cu having high specific activity is needed. ⁶⁴Cu can be produced in cyclotrons or in nuclear reactors. In this paper we study the effect of gamma dose on the production of ⁶⁴Cu according to the Szilard-Chalmers reaction using Cu(II)-phthalocyanine as a target. For this purpose, irradiations were performed in the nuclear reactor of the Delft University of Technology using a novel irradiation facility helping to limit the dose produced by gammas present in the reactor pool. The obtained ⁶⁴Cu activity yield was in general above 60% in accordance to the theoretical expected value. An increase in gamma dose has no significant influence on the obtained activity yield but increases the loss of Cu from Cu(II)-phthalocyanine up to 0.9% and hence decreases the specific activity that can be obtained. However, without optimisation, when reducing the gamma dose specific activities in the order of 30 TBq/g can be achieved.

Cu
Cu-phthalocyanine
Gamma dose influence
High specific activity
Szilard-Chalmers reaction

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9d97b489-92c7-4083-b89a-c7e4b5e8e753

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109135

0969-8043

Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 160

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2020 J.L.T.M. Moret, T. A. Hardens, O. van Batenburg, H.T. Wolterbeek, J.R. van Ommen, A.G. Denkova