Radiochemical separation of 111In from irradiated cadmium targets by D2EHPA-St-DVB extractant impregnated resin

Extractive chromatography for radiochemical separation of In-111 from Cd targets irradiated from charged particle accelerator was developed using D2EHPA-St-DVB extractant impregnated resin which was prepared from D2EHPA (bis (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid), St(styrene) and DVB (divinyl benzene). For the separation of In-111 from Cd by the extractant impregnated resin, the separability of In-111 from natural metal cadmium targets has been evaluated by determining the extraction equilibrium constant and the adsorption band movement rate of those elements. The target sample solution (HNO3 conc.; 2 mol center dot L-1) was adsorbed onto the column which was filled with synthesized D2EHPA-St-DVB extractant impregnated resin. The column was washed with HNO3 solution (conc.; 1 mol center dot L-1) for removing Cd and In-111 was stripped with HCl solution (conc.; 6 mol center dot L-1). The nuclear purity of the separated In-111 was measured as 99.2% by gamma spectrometry and conformed to the requirements of nuclear pharmaceutical.

Automated summary

This study introduces an extractive chromatography method for the radiochemical separation of In-111 from Cd targets irradiated from a charged particle accelerator. The separability of In-111 from Cd was evaluated by determining the extraction equilibrium constant and the adsorption band movement rate. The results showed that the developed method is capable of efficiently separating In-111, and the nuclear purity of the separated In-111 meets the requirements of nuclear pharmaceutical.