Simultaneous production of high specific activity 64Cu and 61Co with 11.4 MeV protons on enriched 64Ni nuclei

The 64Cu and 61Co radionuclides were produced simultaneously by irradiation of enriched 64Ni on a low energy proton-only cyclotron. Nickel targets were prepared by electrodeposition of enriched 64Ni (>95%) on Au backing at thicknesses of 25–225 mg/cm2 with efficiencies >99%. Irradiations up to 30 μA for 8 h were performed with 11.4 MeV protons using a water-cooled target mounting. Radiochemical separation of 64Cu and 61Co from 64Ni was performed by chromatography of the chlorocomplexes in a single step using an anion exchange resin column with a yield >95%. Using this method, the Ni target material was recovered and re-plated for subsequent production runs with an overall efficiency >96%. The excitation function for the 64Ni(p,n)64Cu reaction was measured and compared with published values. Experimental thick target saturation yields of 159 mCi/μA for 64Cu and 715 μCi/μA for 61Co were achieved. Typical specific activities of 64Cu were found to be 18.8±3.3 Ci/μmol.