Production Of Fe-52 From Symmetric Complete Fusion-Evaporation Reactions

A promising method for the production and extraction of Fe-52 utilizing near-symmetric, heavy-ion fusion -evaporation reactions is presented. A Si-28 beam was used to bombard a Al-27 target, producing Fe-52 through the reaction: Al-27 (Si-28, p2n)Fe-52. After irradiation, the aluminum target was dissolved, and the Fe-52 was separated from the aluminum matrix and other reaction products through the use of a cationic-exchange column. It was possible to recover the Fe-52 (t(1/2) = 8.3 h) with high specific activity, higher than can be achieved with the high energy proton spallation reactions currently used to produce this isotope, which has significance in medical research. The production yields for this reaction were measured and compared to PACE4 calculations. These results demonstrate the potential for dedicated accelerator production of Fe-52 using heavy-ion beams, which will result in higher specific activities with robust radiochemical purification techniques.