Process of generating germanium
View Patent ↗The present disclosure generally relates to a new process for generating germanium-68 from an irradiated target body. The process includes irradiation of the target body followed by various extraction techniques to generate the germanium-68.
1. A process for generating a radioisotope, the process comprising:
bombarding a target body including a starting material, wherein
the starting material is an alloy comprising gallium and nickel, and wherein
the bombardment of the starting material produces a radioisotope within the target body; then
allowing the bombarded target body to decay; then
stripping the intact bombarded target body with an acidic mixture to create a stripped solution, wherein the acidic mixture includes copper (II) nitrate trihydrate and nitric acid; then
extracting the radioisotope from the stripped solution using a non-polar solvent to remove the acidic mixture and create a non-polar solvent fraction including the radioisotope; then
washing the non-polar solvent fraction including the radioisotope; and then
extracting the radioisotope from the non-polar solvent fraction using water.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the radioisotope is germanium-68.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the alloy includes from about 10% to about 80% gallium, by weight of the alloy.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the alloy includes from about 60% to about 75% gallium and from about 25% to about 40% nickel, by weight of the alloy.
5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the target body is bombarded by a particle accelerator.
6. The process of claim 5 , wherein the particle accelerator includes a cyclotron.
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the non-polar solvent fraction is washed with HCI.
8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the non-polar solvent is selected from the group consisting of heptane, hexane, cyclohexane, pentane and carbon tetrachloride.
9. A method of using a target body to produce germanium-68, the method comprising:
bombarding a target body including a gallium-nickel alloy, wherein the bombardment of the gallium-nickel alloy produces a germanium radioisotope within the target body; then
allowing the bombarded target body to decay; then
stripping the intact bombarded target body with an acidic mixture to create a stripped solution, wherein the acidic mixture includes copper (II) nitrate trihydrate and nitric acid; then
extracting the germanium radioisotope from the stripped solution using a non-polar solvent to remove the acidic mixture and create a non-polar solvent fraction including the germanium radioisotope; then
washing the non-polar solvent fraction including the germanium radioisotope; and then
extracting the germanium radioisotope from the non-polar solvent fraction using water.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the non-polar solvent is selected from the group consisting of heptane, hexane, cyclohexane, pentane and carbon tetrachloride.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the alloy includes from about 60% to about 75% gallium and from about 25% to about 40% nickel, by weight of the alloy.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the non-polar solvent fraction is washed with HCI.