Production of 117mSn with high specific activity by cyclotron

A method to produce 117mSn radionuclide using accelerator production route is described. A new method is proposed to separate the 117mSn. Specific activities and thick target yield for 116Cd(α,3n)117mSn reaction at Eα=35 MeV bombarding energy were determined. The estimated production yield of 117mSn was 37.5 kBq/μAh for 13.16 mg/cm2 natural cadmium-oxide target and 410 kBq/μAh for 11.07 mg/cm2 highly enriched (95%) 116CdO target. The method developed for separation of 117mSn from Cd using anion-exchange resin (Dowex −1×8, fluorine form, 400 mesh) can achieve 98% radiochemical yield of 117mSn with more than 99% radionuclidic purity. The estimated specific activity is 2.4 GBq/mg that can be reached with the used irradiation conditions.