64Cu enrichment using the Szilard-Chalmers effect – The influence of γ-dose
J.L.T.M. Moret (TU Delft - ChemE/Product and Process Engineering, TU Delft - RID/KEWO/Stralingsbeschermingseenheid)
T. A. Hardens (Student TU Delft)
O. van Batenburg (Student TU Delft)
H. T. Wolterbeek (TU Delft - RST/Applied Radiation & Isotopes)
Ruud Van Ommen (TU Delft - ChemE/Product and Process Engineering)
A. G. Denkova (TU Delft - RST/Applied Radiation & Isotopes)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
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.
help_outline