Synthesis of chitosan-acrylic acid/multiwalled carbon nanotubes composite for theranostic 47Sc separation from neutron irradiated titanium target

A simple and efficient separation method of carrier-free Sc-47 from neutron irradiated titanium target using a novel chitosan-acrylic acid/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CS-AA/MWCNTs) composite was established. The synthesis of the CS-AA/MWCNTs composite was achieved using gamma radiation-induced template polymerization. The grafting efficiency (GE%) of AA on CS onto the surface of f-MWCNTs reached a maximum of similar to 84% under the optimized conditions (30 wt% CS, 1.0 wt% AA, 0.15 wt% f-MWCNTs, >0.2 wt% N,N'-Methylenebisacrylamide (NMBA), and irradiation dose similar to 25 kGy). Different analyses (FT-IR, SEM, TGA and DTA) were examined for confirming the structural morphology and mechanical properties of the new synthesized composite. Interestingly, the CS-AA/MWCNTs composite depicted a selective adsorption of Sc(III) rather than Ti(IV) ions at pH 5 with adsorption efficiency of similar to 93.93%. The ionic exchange separation of no-carrier-added (NCA)Sc-47(III) from irradiated TiO2 target on CS-AA/MWCNTs composite packed column efficiently eluted Sc-47(III) by 91 +/- 0.8% using 1 M HCl solution. The quality control tests (radionuclidic, radiochemical, and chemical purities) for the eluted Sc-47(III) clarified its high purity and validity for cancer theranostics. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.