Manufacture and Utilization of a Low-level Radioactive 68Ge/68Ga Generator in a Radiochemistry Laboratory Course

Abstract

The low-level radioactivity of a (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator is a suitable tool for measuring radioactive growth and decay after (68)Ga milking due to their desirable nuclear decay properties, such as the EC decay of (68)Ge with no γ-ray emission andthe β(+) decay of (68)Ga with a weak γ-ray emission. To experience andund erstandrad ioactive equilibrium during a university laboratory course, we surveyedandtestedthe production of a small amount of (68)Ge and set up educational programs to manufacture a (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator for measuring the growth andd ecay of (68)Ga. The irradiation of natGa with 25 μA of a 30 MeV proton beam from a cyclotron for 4 h yields ca. 111 MBq of (68)Ge, which was sufficient to supply to several universities. For use as the adsorbent of the generator column, particles of hydrated tin (VI) oxide were prepared from precipitated tin hydroxide gel. Repeated elution of (68)Ga from the handmade (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator gave constant amounts of (68)Ga with acceptable breakthrough of (68)Ge. The feedback from the student's experience with the (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator was evaluatedby annual questionnaire surveys, which were given to all students taking the course every year from 2012 to 2014. It has been made clear that more than half of the students were interested in the (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator program, andthis interest increasedfrom 54.9%in 2012 to 78.6%in 2014. A low-level radioactive (68)Ge/(68)Ga generator is thus expectedto be a suitable experimental tool for demonstrating the phenomenon of radioactivity to students in an intriguing way.