The production and isolation of Cu-64 and Cu-67 from zinc target material and other radionuclides

A two-stage method is described for the purification of Cu radionuclides from up to 5 g of ^natZn and other radionuclides. After proton bombardment, co-produced ^66,67Ga is removed by passing the dissolved zinc in 7 M HCl through a 2.5 ml column of AmberChrom CG-71, a methacrylate-based polymeric resin. This first column eluate, which contains ⁶⁵Zn, ^64,67Cu, and ^56,57,58Co, is taken to incipient dryness and reconstituted in 300 ml 0.05 M HCl. This solution is then pumped through a novel 10 ml column of dithizone impregnated AmberChrom CG-71, where Cu radionuclides are efficiently retained with no breakthrough. Zinc and Co radionuclides elute smoothly during washing with no tailing. More than 97% Cu is eluted by washing with 40 ml 5 M HNO₃ warmed to 50 °C. No dithizone is detected in this eluate.