The quest to improve the quality of nuclear data, such as half-lives, transition yields, and reaction cross-sections, is a shared endeavor among various areas of nuclear science. 48V is a vanadium ...isotope for which experimental data on neutron reaction cross-sections is needed. However, traditional isotope production techniques cannot produce 48V with high enough isotopic purity for some of these measurements. “Isotope harvesting” at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is a new isotope production technique that could potentially yield 48V with the necessary purity for such studies. In this case, 48Cr would be collected and allowed to generate 48V that can be separated from undecayed 48Cr to yield highly pure 48V. Thus, any protocol for producing pure 48V via isotope harvesting would involve utilizing a separation technique that can effectively separate 48Cr and 48V. In this study, the radiotracers 51Cr and 48V were used to develop possible radiochemical separation methodologies, which can be translated to obtain high purity 48V via this novel isotope production method. The developed protocols utilize either ion exchange or extraction chromatographic resins. Separations of 51Cr and 48V with AG 1-X8 anion exchange resin respectively resulted in recoveries of 95.6(26)% and 96.2(12)% with radionuclidic purities of 92(2)% and 99(1)%. An even more effective Cr and V separation was obtained with an extraction chromatographic resin (TRU resin) and 10 M HNO3 loading solution. Here, 51Cr and 48V respectively had recoveries of 94.1(28)% and 96.2(13)% with high radionuclidic purities (100(2)% and 100(1)%) in small volumes (8.81(8) mL and 5.39(16) mL). This study suggests that, to maximize the yield and isotopic purity of 48V, the best production protocol would involve utilizing two separations with TRU resin and 10 M HNO3 to isolate 48Cr and purify the generated 48V.
•Two novel and effective separation procedures were developed for producing pure 48V.•Both methods successful separated 51Cr and 48V with high recoveries (>94%).•Pure 51Cr and 48V fractions (100% radionuclidic purity) obtained using TRU resin.
The quest to improve the quality of nuclear data, such as half-lives, transition yields, and reaction cross-sections, is a shared endeavor among various areas of nuclear science.
V is a vanadium ...isotope for which experimental data on neutron reaction cross-sections is needed. However, traditional isotope production techniques cannot produce
V with high enough isotopic purity for some of these measurements. "Isotope harvesting" at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is a new isotope production technique that could potentially yield
V with the necessary purity for such studies. In this case,
Cr would be collected and allowed to generate
V that can be separated from undecayed
Cr to yield highly pure
V. Thus, any protocol for producing pure
V via isotope harvesting would involve utilizing a separation technique that can effectively separate
Cr and
V. In this study, the radiotracers
Cr and
V were used to develop possible radiochemical separation methodologies, which can be translated to obtain high purity
V via this novel isotope production method. The developed protocols utilize either ion exchange or extraction chromatographic resins. Separations of
Cr and
V with AG 1-X8 anion exchange resin respectively resulted in recoveries of 95.6(26)% and 96.2(12)% with radionuclidic purities of 92(2)% and 99(1)%. An even more effective Cr and V separation was obtained with an extraction chromatographic resin (TRU resin) and 10 M HNO
loading solution. Here,
Cr and
V respectively had recoveries of 94.1(28)% and 96.2(13)% with high radionuclidic purities (100(2)% and 100(1)%) in small volumes (8.81(8) mL and 5.39(16) mL). This study suggests that, to maximize the yield and isotopic purity of
V, the best production protocol would involve utilizing two separations with TRU resin and 10 M HNO
to isolate
Cr and purify the generated
V.
Tungsten is a commonly used material at many heavy-ion beam facilities, and it often becomes activated due to interactions with a beam. Many of the activation products are useful in basic and applied ...sciences if they can be recovered efficiently. In order to develop the radiochemistry for harvesting group (IV) elements from irradiated tungsten, a heavy-ion beam containing 88Zr was embedded into a stack of tungsten foils at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and a separation methodology was devised to recover the 88Zr. The foils were dissolved in 30% hydrogen peroxide, and the 88Zr was chemically purified from the tungsten matrix and from other co-implanted radionuclides (such as 85Sr and 88Y) using strong cation-exchange (AG MP-50) chromatographic resin in sulfuric acid media. The procedure provided 88Zr in approximately 60 mL 0.5 M sulfuric acid with no detectable radio-impurities. The overall recovery yield for 88Zr was (92.3 ± 1.2)%. This proof-of-concept experiment has facilitated the development of methodologies to harvest from tungsten and tungsten-alloy parts that are regularly irradiated at heavy-ion beam facilities.
•Proof-of-concept solid-phase isotope harvesting from tungsten collectors.•Solid-phase isotope harvesting for high recoveries of 88Zr from irradiated W foils.•Solid-phase isotope harvesting has higher recovery efficiency than aqueous-phase harvesting for 88Zr.•Radiochemical methods for extracting trace impurities from tungsten and tungsten-alloy parts were developed.
During routine operation of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), radionuclides will accumulate in both the aqueous beam dump and along the beamline in the process of beam purification. These ...byproduct radionuclides, many of which are far from stability, can be collected and purified for use in other scientific applications in a process called isotope harvesting. In this work, the viability of 88Zr harvesting from solid components was investigated at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. A secondary 88Zr beam was stopped in a series of collectors comprised of Al, Cu, W, and Au foils. This work details irradiation of the collector foils and the subsequent radiochemical processing to isolate the deposited 88Zr (and its daughter 88Y) from them. Total average recovery from the Al, Cu, and Au collector foils was (91.3 ± 8.9) % for 88Zr and (95.0 ± 5.8) % for 88Y, respectively, which is over three times higher recovery than in a previous aqueous-phase harvesting experiment. The utility of solid-phase isotope harvesting to access elements such as Zr that readily hydrolyze in near-neutral pH aqueous conditions has been demonstrated for application to harvesting from solid components at FRIB.
•Proof-of-concept solid-phase isotope harvesting demonstrated at the NSCL.•Solid-phase isotope harvesting for improved recoveries of Zr.•High recoveries of 88Zr and 88Y from Al, Cu, and Au foils irradiated with 88Zr beam.•Provides a framework for harvesting group IV elements from FRIB.
Tungsten is a commonly used material at many heavy-ion beam facilities, and it often becomes activated due to interactions with a beam. Many of the activation products are useful in basic and applied ...sciences if they can be recovered efficiently. In order to develop the radiochemistry for harvesting group (IV) elements from irradiated tungsten, a heavy-ion beam containing
Zr was embedded into a stack of tungsten foils at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and a separation methodology was devised to recover the
Zr. The foils were dissolved in 30% hydrogen peroxide, and the
Zr was chemically purified from the tungsten matrix and from other co-implanted radionuclides (such as
Sr and
Y) using strong cation-exchange (AG MP-50) chromatographic resin in sulfuric acid media. The procedure provided
Zr in approximately 60 mL 0.5 M sulfuric acid with no detectable radio-impurities. The overall recovery yield for
Zr was (92.3 ± 1.2)%. This proof-of-concept experiment has facilitated the development of methodologies to harvest from tungsten and tungsten-alloy parts that are regularly irradiated at heavy-ion beam facilities.
