Separation of 111Ag from neutron irradiated natural palladium using alumina as an adsorbent

A simple method is presented for the separation of no-carrier-added 111Ag from neutron irradiated natural palladium. The method is based on sorption of 111Ag in 0.01 M HCl on alumina. Palladium is removed by washing with 0.1 M HCl and the 111Ag is eluted with 4 M HCl. The overall yields of 111Ag are better than 85% with <1 μg/ml palladium as an impurity. The whole procedure from dissolving the target to the final 111Ag solution takes about 2 h.