Development of 137Cs - 137mBa portable radionuclide generator for educational purpose

A miniature 137Cs - 137mBa radionuclide generator based on column chromatographic separation has been developed to obtain pure 137mBa for use in basic radioactive experiments. Elution performance of the generated 137mBa radionuclide with 0.1M NH4NO3 in 0.5 M HNO3 was investigated from a column loaded with polymethyl methacrylate composite (PMMA-AMP) adsorbed with 370 kBq of 137Cs-137mBa mixture. Repeated elutions of 137mBa could be achieved with negligible bleeding of 137Cs. 137mBa eluates of high and reproducible yields with > 99.7 % radionuclidic purity were obtained. The performance of this generator makes it an attractive choice for use in basic educational research. (author)