Abstract:
Copper-64 (
64Cu,
T1/2=12.7 h) is a medical radionuclide with a moderate half-life that is commonly employed in positron emission tomography imaging. Additionally, it can pair with
67Cu to form a theranostic radionuclide pair for targeted radionuclide therapy in nuclear medicine. The research employed a domestic 14.6 MeV cyclotron to produce
64Cu via the
64Ni(p,n)
64Cu. The design of the electroplated target and energy degrader were optimized through computational simulations. The material selected for the energy degrader was graphite, due to its high thermal conductivity. Utilizing a proton of 10.4→8.7 MeV,
64Cu was produced without the unintended impurity
63Cu occurring. After a one-hour bombardment, with a beam current of 50 μA, 5.22 GBq
64Cu was obtained (decay-corrected to end of bombardment). Employing an anion exchange method to purify
64Cu, a molar activity greater than 5 GBq/nmol and a radionuclidic purity of 99.90% was obtained. This study presented a technique for enhancing simulations by considering real operational conditions in order to enhance the utilization of
64Ni, minimize the presence of
63Cu impurities, and achieve
64Cu radionuclide. It serves as a guide for producing other possible medical radionuclides and for producing
64Cu at different facilities.