Accelerator production and nuclear aspects of 88Y: An efficient radiotracer

Yttrium-88 (T1/2 = 106.6 d, Ib+ = 0.2% and IEC = 99.8%) is used in mixed gamma efficiency calibration standards and also as a substitute for 90Y to quantify the biodistribution of Y-pharmaceuticals in animals. Yttrium-88 and strontium-85 as gamma emitting radiotracers were produced via natSrCO3(p, xn) and natRbCl(p, xn) nuclear processes at AMIRS, with 18 and 15 MeV protons, respectively, at a current of 20 µA for 10 hours. The deposition of natSrCO3 on the Cu backing was carried out by means of the sedimentation method. Yt- trium-88 was separated in a 92 ± 5% radiochemical yield using the precipitation technique by precipitating natSr as SrSO4 (strontium-85 as a tracer) while radioyttrium passed through the filter paper. Also, a theoretical study of the nuclear reaction cross-sections for proton and deuteron induced reactions on natSr and natRb for the production of 88Y and 85Sr, respectively, was performed using the EMPIRE (version 3.1 Rivoli), TALYS-1.26 codes and the TENDL-2010 database