Preparation Process of ⁶⁴Cu Nuclide Based on C30 Cyclotron

⁶⁴Cu is one of the most widely used radionuclides, mainly used in PET imaging diagnosis. The preparation technology of ⁶⁴Cu nuclide based on C30 cyclotron was studied in this paper. The target plate for ⁶⁴Cu production was made by copper. Gold film was pre-plated on the surface of the target to protect the copper plate. After gold plating, the target plate was dipped in HCl and H₂O₂ to remove metal impurities. Then enriched ⁶⁴Ni layer was electroplated by pulse power. The target was transferred into the solid target station of C30 cyclotron for irradiation, in which the proton beam energy is 15.5 MeV. After irradiation, the target was transferred to the separation and purification hot cell. 6 mol/L HCl and 30%H₂O₂ were added to target dissolving tank. The AG1-X8 anion exchange resin was used for separation and purification to get the final product ⁶⁴Cu solution. The radionuclide purity, radiochemical purity, impurity contents of ⁶⁴Cu were measured, respectively. The dissolved ⁶⁴Ni solution was recycled by AG1-X8 resin when decay was completed. The test results show that the thickness of enriched ⁶⁴Ni layers is 8.5-16.3 mg/cm². The production capacity of ⁶⁴Cu is over 37 GBq, and the yield is 180-250 MBq/(μA·h). The radionuclide purity of ⁶⁴Cu is higher than 99.9%, the radiochemical purity is higher than 97.0%, and the impurity contents are less than 0.5 μg/GBq. The new ⁶⁴Cu nuclide preparation technology is stable and reliable in quality control, and reaches large-scale production level, also provides a stable and reliable nuclide source for the research and development of ⁶⁴Cu labelled radiopharmaceuticals.