One-pot synthesis of a chelating resin for lutetium/ytterbium separation and assessment of its performance

With the growing application of 177 Lu-based radiopharmaceuticals, efficient separation of no-carrier-added (NCA) 177 Lu from its isotopic precursor ytterbium has become an urgent need in radiochemistry. However, the adjacent positions of lutetium and ytterbium in the lanthanide series lead to highly similar physicochemical properties, rendering conventional separation methods ineffective. In this study, P507@PS-DVB resin was synthesized via a facile one-pot method by reacting the extractant P507 with polymerizable monomers, exhibiting an optimized microstructure and functional group distribution conducive to the selective adsorption of Lu(III) over Yb(III). Key factors affecting adsorption and separation performance were systematically evaluated. Under optimized conditions, the resin demonstrated a Lu(III) adsorption capacity of 55.4 mg/g. Furthermore, a two-step separation process consisting of primary enrichment and secondary purification was developed, achieving a Lu(III) recovery exceeding 60% alongside an 82% removal rate of Yb(III). This work presents both a promising material for NCA 177 Lu production and a viable strategy for lanthanide separation.