Hierarchical macro/mesoporous γ-Al2O3 as column matrix for development of low specific activity 99Mo/99mTc generator via 100Mo (γ, n)99Mo reaction

Ruiqin Gao; Jieru Wang; Wei Tian; Qinggang Huang; Mu Lin; Xiaolei Wu; Zhi Qin

doi:10.1515/ract-2024-0320

Article

Hierarchical macro/mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ as column matrix for development of low specific activity ⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc generator via ¹⁰⁰Mo (γ, n)⁹⁹Mo reaction

Ruiqin Gao , Jieru Wang , Wei Tian , Qinggang Huang , Mu Lin , Xiaolei Wu and Zhi Qin

Published/Copyright: November 19, 2024

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From the journal Radiochimica Acta Volume 113 Issue 3

Abstract

^99mTc, the daughter product of ⁹⁹Mo, is a γ-emitting radionuclide with essential diagnostic applications in nuclear medicine. In this paper, an accelerator-based method (¹⁰⁰Mo (γ, n)⁹⁹Mo) for production of ⁹⁹Mo and ^99mTc has been explored. Approximately 68.3 MBq of ⁹⁹Mo was successfully produced by the irradiation of ¹⁰⁰Mo metallic target for 40 h using electron beam with energy of 50 MeV and current of 0.2 μA at electron linear accelerator (Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, IMPCAS). Different types of ⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc generators were prepared using hierarchical macro/mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ (HMMA) as column adsorbent, and their performances were evaluated for over one week. ⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc generator with a column (3 mL, 4.2 × 0.95 cm) packed with 0.6 g HMMA exhibited excellent eluting performance. ^99mTc could be collected within 4.0 mL of saline solution with high purity, and the elution efficiency could reach >85 %. Furthermore, ⁹⁹Mo breakthrough in the eluates was negligible (<2 × 10⁻³ %) and concentration of impurity (<10 ppm) was acceptable. Finally, the enriched ¹⁰⁰Mo was eluted from the spent ⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc generator using 1.0 mol/L ammonium hydroxide, and then reduced by high-temperature hydrogen reduction process with a total recovery of 95.3 %. This work demonstrated that the preparation of ⁹⁹Mo via ¹⁰⁰Mo (γ, n)⁹⁹Mo reaction and isolating ^99mTc using HMMA column chromatography have a potential in application.

Keywords: 100Mo(γ, n)99Mo; 99Mo/99mTc generator; separation; recycle of 100Mo

Corresponding author: Zhi Qin, Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China, E-mail: qinzhi@impcas.ac.cn

Ruiqin Gao and Jieru Wang contributed equally to this work.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12005272). The authors are grateful to theElectron Accelerator Center,Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Science for providing the electron beam. We also would like to thank Multidisciplinary Integrated Physics Experiment Platform, IMPCAS for the ICP-OES, XRD, SEM-EDS measurement.

Research ethics: Not applicable.
Informed consent: Not applicable.
Author contributions: Ruiqin Gao: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Data Curation, Writing-Original Draft. Jieru Wang: Methodology, Investigation, Data Curation, Writing-Review & Editing. Wei Tian: Resources, Writing-Review. Qinggang Huang: Data Curation, Writing-Review. Mu Lin: Writing-Review. Xiaolei Wu: Resources, Writing-Review. Zhi Qin: Supervision, Project administration. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
Competing interests: All other authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: This research was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12005272).
Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2024-06-17

Accepted: 2024-11-04

Published Online: 2024-11-19

Published in Print: 2025-03-26

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Keywords for this article

100Mo(γ, n)99Mo; 99Mo/99mTc generator; separation; recycle of 100Mo