Separation of carrier-free 181Re produced in 16O-irradiated thulium target

Heavy ion activation of natural Tm2O3 with 90 MeV 16O beam results in the formation of carrier-free short-lived 181Ir and 181Os which ultimately decay out to 181Re in the matrix. The liquid cation exchanger, HDEHP, has effectively been utilized as an extractant for quantitative separation of bulk thulium target matrix from carrier-free rhenium radionuclide.