Studies on the production feasibility of [sup.64]Cu by reactions on Zn targets in Dhruva research reactor

[sup.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.sup.-] (40%) and positron emission (19%). [sup.64]Cu is generally produced by [sup.64]Ni (p, n) reaction in a cyclotron for medical use. High specific activity 'no carrier added' grade [sup.64]Cu by [sup.64]Zn (n, p) route is an alternative for research studies and was hence explored. 10 mg zinc foil target (48.63% in [sup.64]Zn) was irradiated in the medium flux reactor Dhruva at a thermal neutron flux of ~ 5.6 x [10.sup.13] n [cm.sup.-2] [s.sup.-1] for 3 days. The irradiated Zn foil was dissolved in 5 mL 10 M HCl and [sup.64]Cu was separated by anion exchange chromatography (Dowex 1 x 8; 100-200 mesh) at 3 M HCl conditions. [sup.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% [sup.64]Cu. Keywords [sup.64]Cu * No carrier added * Reactor production * Radionuclide purity