Purification development of carrier-free 47Sc produced from natTi(n,p) reaction for radiotheranostic applications

This work spotlights on the rapid and effective separation method for the no-carrier-added (NCA) Sc-47 from natural irradiated Ti target using an anionic exchanger resin; AN-31 impregnated with 4-(2-Pyridylazo) resorcinol (PAR). The newly prepared resin (An-PAR) was characterized by FTIR and SEM. The Influence of pH on the distribution coefficients (K-d) of Sc(III) and Ti(IV) ions was investigated by batch technique and the results revealed that Ti(IV) ions are strongly adsorbed by AN-PAR rather than AN-31, while Sc(III) ions are weakly adsorbed on the both resin materials. The radiochemical separation of Sc-47(III) from irradiated natural Ti target was successfully carried out, where the elution efficiency for Sc-47 reached 89 +/- 1.5% with high radiochemical, radionuclidic and chemical purities. Our findings thus hold a great promise for the use of Sc-47 radioisotope in the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals for theranostics applications.