Separation of no-carrier-added 90Nb from proton induced natural zirconium target

摘要

No-carrier-added (nca) 90Nb (14.6 h) was produced by irradiating a natural zirconium foil of 4.9 mg/cm2 thickness by 13 MeV proton beam. Nca 90Nb of ~27 kBq activity was produced in the target matrix. Liquid–liquid extraction technique was applied using trioctylamine (TOA) in cyclohexane to separate nca 90Nb from bulk zirconium matrix. About 70% radiochemical yield of nca 90Nb was achieved with a separation factor of 1.4 × 104. Keywords 90Nb - Proton irradiation - LLX - TOA - Radiochemical separation