Production of Sc Isotopes from a Ti Target and Their Purification Using a Modified Cation-Exchange Resin

Scandium isotopes have attracted significant attention in nuclear medicine applications due to their favorable radiation and decay characteristics. This research is focused on the production of no-carrier-added (NCA) Sc isotopes through fast neutron irradiation (En > 1 MeV) of a natural titanium (natTi) target in the Egyptian Second Research Reactor. Subsequently, the separation and purification of Sc isotopes were conducted using a newly developed method based on Amberlite IR-120 resin impregnated with Thorin. The modified resin, Amb-120-Thorin, was characterized using analytical techniques such as FTIR. The adsorption of Thorin onto the resin surface enhances the sorbent capacity for scandium ions. For the separation in the batch mode, the optimal pH was 5 and the equilibration time was 3 h. A chromatographic column filled with Amb-120-Thorin was employed to evaluate the separation and purification of the Sc radioisotope; a yield of 95.1 ± 1.2% was achieved.