Radiometric studies on adsorption of iron on cation exchange resin and also of indium and gallium in Presence of Iron: Applicability to Prepare 67Ga with Low Iron Content

The retention and elution of Fe(III) on Dowex-50 cation exchange column in conc. HCl medium was studied using 59Fe as a tracer. Details of the retention/elution behaviour of trace quantities of 114mIn and 67Ga on Dowex-50 resin in the presence of various iron concentrations were also studied since the iron content altered the adsorption behaviour of 67Ga and 111In during chemical separation of these isotopes from irradiated target solutions. A method is reported to remove iron from the column by reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) on the Dowex-50 column itself with 1% NaI in conc. HCl or 0.1 N HCl and subsequent elution of the Fe(II) with conc. HCl.