Production method development of cancer therapeutic Cu using thermoseparation for cancer therapy

Ota, Akio*; Kawabata, Masako*; Motoishi, Shoji*; Saeki, Hideya*; Hashimoto, Kazuyuki*; Tsukada, Kazuaki  ; Hatsukawa, Yuichi*; Nagai, Yasuki*

Cu and Cu are recognized to be promising radioisotopes for cancer therapy and diagnosis in nuclear medicine. It is possible to produce both Cu and Cu using accelerator neutrons from the zinc sample with different isotopic enrichment level, therefore the same separation procedure can be applied for both radioisotopes. Three-step-column separation chemistry was previously reported to separate Cu from the irradiated zinc sample. This paper reports that newly developed thermo-separation system to remove the bulk zinc from the sample using a difference in vapor pressure between Zn and Cu.