An overview of copper radionuclides and production of 61Cu by proton irradiation of natZn at a medical cyclotron

In this article, production methods and applications of copper radionuclides are overviewed with special attention toward 61Cu, due to its interesting nuclear properties. Selection of production parameters for 61Cu including: appropriate nuclear reaction, proton beam energy, target thickness and targetry method are discussed for NRCAM 30 MeV medical cyclotron. 64Zn(p,α)61Cu was selected as the best reaction and 61Cu was produced by 22 MeV proton bombardment of a 80 μm thick natural zinc target. After 180 μAh irradiation, the resultant activity of 61Cu was 6.006 Ci (12.015 mCi/μAh). The chemical separation method was easy, quick and efficient (>95%) and yielded a no carrier added product with high chemical and radionuclidic purity (>99%). Detailed comparison with previous production methods confirms that our results are superior to other reports published to date.