Synthesis and radiometric evaluation of diglycolamide functionalized mesoporous silica for the chromatographic separation of actinides Th, Pa and U.

The separation of Th, Pa, and U is of high importance in many applications including nuclear power, nuclear waste, environmental and geochemistry, nuclear forensics and nuclear medicine. Diglycolamide (DGA)-based resins have shown the ability to separate many elements, however, these resins consist of non-covalent impregnation of the DGA molecules on the resin backbone resulting in co-elution of the extraction molecule during separation cycles, therefore limiting their long-term and repeated use. Covalently binding the DGA molecules onto silica is one way to overcome this issue.

Radiometric evaluation of diglycolamide resins for the chromatographic separation of actinium from fission product lanthanides.

Actinium-225 is a potential Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) isotope. It can be generated with high energy (≥ 100MeV) proton irradiation of thorium targets. The main challenge in the chemical recovery of Ac lies in the separation from thorium and many fission by-products most importantly radiolanthanides.