Small scale production of high purity 193mPt by the 192Os(α,ߙ3n)-process

Abstract

Abstract Some production aspects of the Auger electron emitter 193mPt (T 1/2=4.33 d) through the 192Os(α,ߙ3n)-process were investigated. Relatively thick targets of 99.65% enriched 192Os, prepared by pressing or electrolytic deposition, were irradiated with 40 MeV α-particles for 3 h at a nominal beam current of 1.6 μA. The radioplatinum formed was chemically separated with a yield of 90% and the expensive target material was recovered with a yield of 85%. The radioactivity of 193mPt was determined by high resolution X-ray spectrometry. The radionuclidic purity of 193mPt amounted to 99%, the level of 195mPt and 191Pt impurities being each 0.5%. The batch yield of 193mPt achieved was about 10 MBq with a specific activity of 1 GBq/μg Pt. Both the batch yield and the specific activity could be appreciably increased through improved targetry. A comparison of the cyclotron and reactor production routes of 193mPt shows that the (n,ߙγ) reaction leads to high production yields but the α-particle induced reaction results in a product of higher radionuclidic purity and four orders of magnitude higher specific activity of 193mPt.