Nickel-64

Catalog Number	ACMA00026871
IUPAC Name	nickel-64
Molecular Weight	63.93
Molecular Formula	64Ni
InChI	InChI=1S/Ni/i1+5
InChI Key	PXHVJJICTQNCMI-BKFZFHPZSA-N
Purity	98%
Appearance	Solid
Accurate Mass	63.9279679
Isomeric SMILES	[64Ni]
Monoisotopic Mass	63.928
CAS (Unlabeled)	7440-02-0

Case Study

Irradiation of Enriched Nickel-64 to Produce Copper-64

Jeffery C M, AIP Conference Proceedings. American Institute of Physics, 2012, 1509(1), 84-90.

Copper-64 (Cu) is a radioisotope with physical properties suitable for PET imaging of a variety of biological agents. This work implements a reliable process to produce research quantities of copper from enriched nickel. Specifically, the production of copper-64 (64Cu) was achieved by irradiating enriched nickel64 (64Ni, >94.8%) in an IBA 18/9 cyclotron.
The preparation procedure from nickel-64 to 64Cu
· Electroplating Solution: 64Ni metal was submerged in hot concentrated HNO3 (1mL) at 100°C, and evaporated until dry. Concentrated H2SO4 (0.5 mL) is added to the residue, with only a small amount of water added to facilitate dissolving the solids. The solution was evaporated to dryness and solid redissolved in dilute H2SO4. The 64NiSO4 was precipitated with the 4:1 addition of acetone (400mL in total). The precipitate was separated and dried in an oven overnight at 95°C. The electroplating solution was prepared by mixing 64NiSO4 (150mg) and (NH4)2SO4 (60- 500mg) in water (10mL).
· Electroplating and Irradiation: The target is prepared by adding the plating solution to the plating bath. A platinum rod serves as the anode; and a gold foil serves as the cathode. A constant current (6mA) is applied throughout the 12-24-hour plating process. A total of 19.1 ± 3.0 mg of Nickel-64 was electroplated onto a gold disc measuring 125 mm x 15 mm. The target is then irradiated with 11.7 MeV protons at 40A for 2 hours.

Automated Production Based on 64 Ni(p,n) 64 Cu Nuclear Reaction for Copper-64

Burke P, et al. Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2010, 363(6), 1316-1319.

A fully automated process has been developed for the periodic manufacture of the radioisotope copper-64 (t1/2= 12.7 h) to develop PET radiopharmaceuticals. High yields of the radioisotope were produced from 64 Ni(p,n)64Cu nuclear reaction on a 16.5 MeV cyclotron after 4 hours' irradiation of nickel-64 (99.6% enrichment) on gold disks.
Preparation process of Nickel-64 to 64Cu
· Nickel-64 Plating Solution: Nickel-64 (25-50 mg) powder was dissolved in 0.3 mL nitric acid concentrated, evaporated until completely dry at 90°C. The residue was dispersed in 1 mL concentrated HCl and dried at 90°C. This was done twice and the resulting NiCl2 salt was dispersed in 10 mL water to get a pH 7 solution.
· Nickel Target Preparation: Gold disk was sonicated in concentrated nitric acid (50°C for 30 minutes) and rinsed with water until neutral. The dried disk was placed in an electroplating cell with a platinum anode. The cell was heated to 45°C and connected to a 0-5 V DC power supply set to 4.5 V. A nickel plating solution was added to the cell, and the current was adjusted to 5 mA by adding HCl. Over 12-24 hours, the current was maintained by periodically adding small amounts of HCl. The plated disk was then removed, washed, dried, and weighed.
· Irradiation of the Nickel-64 Target: Copper-64 was produced on a GE cyclotron via the 64Ni(p,n)64Cu nuclear reaction using a 16.5 MeV proton beam, 25-30 µA beam current, and a 240-minute irradiation time. The target was positioned perpendicular to the cyclotron beam and cooled indirectly through a water-cooled ramprobe.
· Finally, separation of copper from nickel and cobalt was achieved using an automated controlled handling system.

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Nickel-64 (ACMA00026871)

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