The Use of Sodium Hypochlorite Solution for (n,γ)⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc Generator Based on Zirconium-Based Material (ZBM)

The many problems in preparing fission product 99 Mo led into this work to develop 99 Mo/ 99m Tc generator using neutron-irradiated natural MoO 3 targets and, more specifically, to develop a zirconium-based material (ZBM) for chromatography columns that have an adsorption capacity of more than 100 mg Mo/g ZBM. This paper reports our recent experiments in the use of sodium hypochlorite solution of various concentrations to improve the yield of 99m Tc in performance of (n,γ) 99 Mo/ 99m Tc generators based on the ZBM. The synthesized ZBM was coated with tetraethyl orthosilicate for improving the hardness of the material. The adsorption of [ 99 Mo]molybdate into ZBM was carried out by reacting ZBM into [ 99 Mo]molybdate solution at 90 ° C to form ZBM-[ 99 Mo] molybdate. ZBM-[ 99 Mo]molybdate was then packed into generator column, then eluted with 10 × 1 mL of saline followed by 1 × 5 mL of NaOCl solution. The NaOCl solution concentrations used were 0.5%; 1%; 3%; and 5% for each column, respectively. This study resulted in a ZBM which has a 99 Mo adsorption capacity of 167.5 ± 3.4 mgMo/g ZBM, as well as in a yield eluate of 99m Tc of up to 70%, and the find that the optimum NaOCl concentration was 3%. The use of sodium hypochlorite solution affected 99 Mo breakthrough. The higher sodium hypochlorite concentration used, the more 99 Mo breaktrough exist on 99m Tc eluate. Received: 22 October 2014;  Revised: 21 April 2015;  Accepted: 21 May 2015