A new plastic scintillation resin for single-step separation, concentration and measurement of technetium-99

Abstract

Technetium is a synthetic element with no stable isotopes, produced as waste in nuclear power plants and in cyclotrons used for nuclear medicine. The element has high mobility, in the form of TcO4−; its determination is therefore important for environmental protection. Technetium is found in low concentrations and therefore common methods for its analysis include long treatments in several steps and require large amounts of reagents for its purification and preconcentration. Plastic scintillation resins (PSresin) are novel materials used to separate, preconcentrate and measure radionuclides in a single step. The objective of this study is to prepare and characterise a PSresin for the preconcentration and measurement of 99Tc. The study first evaluates the reproducibility of the production of PSresins between batches and over time; showing good reproducibility and storage stability. Next, we studied the effect of some common non-radioactive interferences, showing small influences on measurement, and radioactive interferences (36Cl and 238U/234U). 36Cl can be removed by a simple treatment with 0.5 M HCl and 238U/234U can be removed from the column by cleaning with a mixture of 0.1 M HNO3 and 0.1 M HF. In the latter case, a slight change in the morphology of the PSresin caused an increase in detection efficiency. Finally, the PSresin was applied to the measurement of real spiked samples (sea water and urine) with deviations lower than 10% in all cases.