Studies on the production feasibility of 64Cu by (n, p) reactions on Zn targets in Dhruva research reactor

64 Cu is an useful radionuclide for both PET imaging and targeted therapy, as it decays by three different modes, namely, electron capture (41%), β − (40%) and positron emission (19%). 64 Cu is generally produced by 64 Ni ( p , n ) reaction in a cyclotron for medical use. High specific activity ‘no carrier added’ grade 64 Cu by 64 Zn ( n , p ) route is an alternative for research studies and was hence explored. 10 mg zinc foil target (48.63% in 64 Zn) was irradiated in the medium flux reactor Dhruva at a thermal neutron flux of ~5.6 × 10 13 n cm −2 s −1 for 3 days. The irradiated Zn foil was dissolved in 5 mL 10 M HCl and 64 Cu was separated by anion exchange chromatography (Dowex 1 × 8; 100–200 mesh) at 3 M HCl conditions. 64 Cu radioactivity content and its radionuclide purity were ascertained by γ-ray spectrometry using HPGe detector coupled to a 4 K multichannel analyser system. Radiochemical separation yielded a radionuclidic purity of 99.9% 64 Cu.