Separation of 71,72As from alpha particle induced gallium oxide target by solid cation and anion exchangers, DOWEX-50 and DOWEX-1.

Abstract 46.0 MeV alpha particle induced reaction on gallium oxide target results production of no-carrier-added (NCA) 71,72As and 67Ga tracer. 71,72As were separated from the target matrix by solid liquid extraction (SLX) using two different exchangers, Dowex-1 and Dowex-50. At best condition of 0.2 g Dowex-1 + 6 M HCl and 0.2 g Dowex-50 + 10−3 M HCl bulk gallium was completely extracted leaving behind NCA 71,72As in the aqueous phase. Dowex-50 was found to be more suitable and offered high separation factor, 3.2 × 105.