Ion-imprinted polymeric nanoparticles as a novel sorbent to separate radioyttrium from Sr target

Abstract

Abstract Radioyttrium (containing 86Y, 87Y and 88Y) was produced by irradiating a natSrCO3 target with 15 MeV proton beam at a current of 30 µA for 12 min. A synthesized ion imprinted (IIP) and control polymer (CP) nanoparticles as sorbents were used for the separation of radioyttrium from strontium. The sorbents were characterized by Fourier Transform Infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Surface area analysis. Effect of various parameters such as pH, mass sorbent, nature and volume of eluent were investigated on the percent extraction of radioyttrium ion using IIP and CP particles. Chemical and radionuclidic purity were determined by ICP-AES and HPGe detector gamma-ray spectrometry, respectively. The radioyttrium recovery yield was 99.5% and the stable Sr content in the final product was estimated to be 4.5 µg mL−1. In conclusion, the suggested method in this manuscript can be used for the production of other 86/87Y radionuclides.