High cadmium-109 recovery from a dissolved silver target solution using dowex 1×8 anion-exchange resin

Separation of 109 Cd produced by proton irradiation of a silver target from the target material and the other products was achieved. Radiochemical separation of 109 Cd from silver and nonisotopic impurities involves two steps: precipitation and ion exchange. The dissolved target material solution is evaporated almost to dryness. The residue is dissolved in 0.015 M HCl, with quantitative precipitation of silver from the solution. In the second step, 109 Cd is separated from Cu and 65 Zn on an anion-exchange column (Dowex 1×8). 109 Cd is completely retained in the column, whereas copper and more than 70% of 65 Zn pass through during loading the solution. 109 Cd is then eluted from the column with 0.5 M HNO 3 . High recovery of 109 Cd (99.77%) with 2.1% 65 Zn impurity was attained.