When accelerating heavy ions at the NSCL (National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory) only a small fraction is used for the production of a secondary beam. In an attempt to exploit the primary beam’s isotope producing potential, a conventional solid beam blocker is replaced by a water-filled target. This allows access to a source of exotic radionuclides in a synergistic manner with other experiments. With an impinging primary particle beam of 78Kr mainly 77Kr and 76Kr are created, however, 62Zn (t1/2= 9.2 h) is formed in a side reaction at a production rate of 3.07*10-4 atoms per incident 78Kr. The positron-emitter 62Zn represents the mother nuclide of the short-lived 62Cu (t1/2= 9.7 min, Iβ+= 100%) and both are currently collectively used in nuclear medicine for the 62Zn/62Cu PET generator. In addition, the function of zinc as an essential nutrient makes this heavy metal also interesting for plant uptake studies. Here we present the formation of 8–11 μCi 62Zn by a 78Kr beam (150 MeV/u, max. 2-4 pnA, 0.02–0.05 kW) in an aqueous matrix. The produced radionuclides were collected on a set of cation and anion exchange columns, whereby 62Zn exclusively exists as cation under the prevailing neutral pH environment. With the subsequent purification method, based on anion exchange, 62Zn could be separated from accompanying radioactive and stable nuclides and collected in up to 50 mL HCl-eluent (pH~3). After a concentration step the 62Zn was used in a proof-of-principle uptake and imaging experiment in a hydroponic garden cress culture.

Harvesting 62Zn from an aqueous beam cocktail at the NSCL

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.