47Sc production development by cyclotron irradiation of 48Ca

R Misiak,J W Mietelski,B Wąs,R Walczak,M Bartyzel,A Bilewicz

doi:10.1007/s10967-017-5321-z

Abstract

The therapeutic radionuclide 47Sc was produced through the 48Ca(p,2n) channel on a proton beam accelerator. The obtained results show that the optimum proton energies are in the range of 24–17 MeV, giving the possibility to produce 47Sc radionuclide containing 7.4% of 48Sc. After activation, the powdery CaCO3 target material was dissolved in HCl and scandium isotopes were isolated from the targets. The performed separation experiments indicate that, due to the simplicity of the operations and the chemical purity of the obtained 47Sc the best separation process is when scandium radioisotopes are separated on the 0.2 µm filter.

Highlights

The therapeutic radionuclide 47Sc was produced through the 48Ca(p,2n) channel on a proton beam accelerator
The performed separation experiments indicate that, due to the simplicity of the operations and the chemical purity of the obtained 47Sc the best separation process is when scandium radioisotopes are separated on the 0.2 lm filter
The second paper published by Severin et al which described result of the 44Sc production on natural calcium target, contains results of production 47Sc and 48Sc contaminants at

Summary

Introduction

The therapeutic radionuclide 47Sc was produced through the 48Ca(p,2n) channel on a proton beam accelerator. Emission of high-energy c-rays generates radiolytic decomposition of biomolecules, which is thought to be accompanied by formation of free radicals [10] Another radionuclide of scandium-43Sc, shows properties similar to 44Sc, but emits much lower energy of concurrent gamma. The more promising method of 43Sc production is alpha irradiation of natural calcium target through the 40Ca(a,p) and 40Ca(a,n) channels has been mentioned in recently published paper [13]. An enriched 47TiO2 target was irradiated with high energy neutrons (En [ 1 MeV) to produce 47Sc via the 47Ti(n, p)47Sc reaction. The second advantage of this method is the use of 47Ca/47Sc generator system to supply 47Sc activity, but the disadvantage is the requirement of an enriched target. 46Ca is presently available with only a 30% enrichment and at a very high price, which makes the target cost prohibitive

Methods

Results

Conclusion