A comparative study on the separation of radioyttrium from Sr- and Rb-targets via ion-exchange and solvent extraction techniques, with special reference to the production of no-carrier-added 86Y, 87Y and 88Y using a cyclotron

Abstract

The radiochemical separation of 88Y from proton irradiated natSrCO3 and alpha-particle irradiated natRbCl, of 86Y from proton irradiated 86SrCO3, and of 87Y from alpha-particle irradiated natRbCl were studied at no-carrier-added levels by two techniques, namely, ion-exchange chromatography using Dowex 50W-X8 and Dowex 21K resins, and solvent extraction using HDEHP. Out of all those methods, the ion-exchange chromatography using Dowex 50W-X8 (cation-exchanger) was found to be the best: the separation yield was high, the chemical impurity in the separated radioyttrium (inactive Sr or Rb) was low (0.5 μg) and the final product was obtained in the form of citrate. The optimized separation method using Dowex 50W-X8 was applied in practical production of 86Y and 88Y via proton irradiations of 86SrCO3 and natSrCO3, respectively, at 16 MeV as well as of 87Y and 88Y via α-particle irradiation of natRbCl at 26 MeV. The tangible experimental yields of 86Y and 87Y amounted to 150 and 5.7 MBq/μA·h, respectively. The yields of 88Y obtained were 0.06 MBq/μA·h and 1 MBq/μA·h for alpha-particle and proton irradiations, respectively. Each yield value corresponds to more than 70% of the respective theoretical value.