Sol–gel synthesis and characterization of silica–zirconia inorganic polymer as 99Mo/99mTc generator

Abstract

A variety of new silica–zirconia sulfate inorganic polymer sorbent materials, designated as SZ were prepared using the in situ generated zirconium-tetra octanoxide Zr(Oct)4 from condensation of zirconium-tetra-n-butoxide and 1-octanol followed by reaction with tetraethylorthosilicate in ethanolic solution by sol gel method. The prepared SZ sorbents were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, XRD, N2 sorption isotherms and ICP techniques. Different molar ratios of substrates were used in order to study the maximum capacity of MoO4 2− adsorption. Mo adsorption was found to depend on several parameters such as SO4 2−/Zr, Zr/Si molar ratios and gel calcination temperatures. The maximum amount of 99Mo (Mo) adsorption on inorganic polymer was realized to be about 450 mg/g. Notably, elution of technetium-99m with a small volume of saline solution was carried out with about 75 % yield and less than 0.02 % 99Mo breakthrough. The silica zirconia sulfate inorganic polymers were synthesized by sol–gel method and selected as adsorbent materials for 99Mo/99mTc generator.