Studies on the separation of89Sr(II) from irradiated yttria target using 4, 4′(5′) di-tert-butyl-cyclohexano-18-crown-6 (DtBuCH18C6) by solvent extraction technique

Abstract

Abstract The radioisotope 89Sr as 89SrCl2 is medically useful for bone pain palliation and is produced in fast reactors using the 89Y(n, p)89Sr reaction. A procedure for isolation of the radionuclide 89Sr by chemical processing of the irradiated Y2O3 target has been standardised and trial runs have been carried out at the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam. The chemical processing of the irradiated Y2O3 target involves i) the removal of target Y(III) by TBP extraction and ii) further purification of the separated 89Sr fraction by cationic exchange chromatography. However a selective isolation of 89Sr by the Sr-specific crown ether makes the above chemical processing faster and relatively simple. This work presents a study on the selective removal of Sr from the irradiated target dissolver solution using the Sr-specific crown ether 4,4′(5′) di-tert-butyl-cyclohexano-18-crown-6 (DtBuCH18C6) in octanol medium. The separation behaviour of the other impurities such as Ce(IV), Y(III), Tb(III), Eu(III), Zn(II), Mn(II) and Rb(I) present along with Sr(II) in the irradiated sample was also investigated. The method of separation by using the crown ether DtBuCH18C6 is proved to be a potential tool for the purification of 89Sr(II) source produced from yttria target in fast reactors.