Inorganic resins enable the increased purification efficiency of ⁸²Sr from rubidium targets for use in PET imaging isotope production

The ⁸²Sr/⁸²Rb generator system has found use in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of myocardial perfusion. ⁸²Sr is produced by proton irradiation of Rb metal/RbCl salt followed by chemical separation. Inorganic ion-exchangers were synthesized by hydrothermal methods and evaluated for the purification of accelerator-produced ⁸²Sr from a RbCl target and co-produced impurities like ⁷⁵Se, Fe, Cr, and Ni. A process consisting of removal of bulk RbCl using sodium nonatitanate (SNT), then removal of remaining tracers of Rb and Se using poorly crystalline silicotitanate (pCST) is suitable for ⁸²Sr separation and achieves higher purity of ⁸²Sr vs. commonly used organic resins. (author)