An optimized two-step electrodeposition procedure for producing 90Y from 90Sr

Yttrium-90 ( 90 Y), a beta-emitting radionuclide with suitable half-life and radiation energy, is considered an ideal therapeutic nuclide and has been used for the treatment of inflammatory joint diseases, relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and liver metastases of colorectal cancer. It has great potential for application in nuclear medicine. In this work, stable isotopes were employed to simulate the production conditions of curie-level Y-90 in a system with a Sr/Y concentration ratio of 20,000. The electrolysis was conducted with 0.1 M NH 4 NO 3 as the supporting electrolyte, pH adjusted to 2.5, and a current density of 100 mA/cm 2 applied for 3 h, resulting in a Y recovery rate exceeding 98%. Meanwhile, by adjusting the cathode cleaning step, a theoretical purification factor of (6.8 ± 0.8) × 10 5 was achieved in the simulated secondary electrodeposition. Based on this, a six-step process was developed for the simulated production of 2.4 Ci of 90 Y per day and 2.4 Ci per week. The obtained Y recovery liquid theoretically conformed to the requirements for medicinal application.