Cyclotron production of a 204Bi/204mPb generator by 24 MeV proton irradiation of natural Pb foil targets

This work focuses on the formation of a generator of ²⁰⁴Bi/^204mPb for future applications in perturbed angular correlation spectroscopy and biological radiotracing with lead and bismuth isotopes. Generators were formed from the irradiation of natural Pb targets with 24 MeV protons producing ^{203,204,205,206,207}Bi that were rapidly dissolved in 3 M HNO₃ and 30 % H₂O₂ and exchanged into a 0.1 M HCl matrix. Use of 100 mg anion exchange resin (AG 1-x8) allowed ^203,204mPb to be eluted in 600 μL of 0.1 M HCl. The longer-lived ^205,206Bi were eluted in 5 mL or 3 mL of either 0.25 M sodium acetate buffer pH 4.4 or 1.0 M H₂SO₄. Initial radiolabeling was conducted with eluted ²⁰⁶Bi using DTPA and DOTA and ²⁰³Pb using TCMC-Azide.