Application of tracer packet technique for multielemental uptake studies on the inorganic ion exchanger zirconium vanadate

The conception of tracer packet was first started with the irradiation of a thick cobalt target with 16O, 7Li and 12C beams, consecutively. This produced carrier-free radiotracers of Mn, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As and Se. These elements are adjacent members in the periodic table and are of nutritional importance. Another ‘tracer packet’, which was subsequently designed, was of heavy and toxic metals. A gold target irradiated with medium energy 7Li and 12C produced 197Hg, 200Tl, 200Pb, 204Bi, 204Po. The uptake of these elements has been studied using two different ion exchangers, one of inorganic origin and the other of chelating type.