Production and separation of 55Co via the 58Ni(p,α)55Co reaction

55Co is a positron emitting isotope that is of interest to the nuclear medicine imaging community. 55Co was produced by the 58Ni(p,α)55Co reaction and purified by chromatography. Our method has produced 55Co in millicurie quantities with a final recovery of 78% and an effective specific activity of 28μCi/μmol. The only radioactive impurity recovered with 55Co is 57Co(271.8d) and is at a concentration of ∼0.182% that of 55Co.