# Quantitative gas-phase separation of carrier-free thallium radioisotopes from proton-irradiated natHgO

## TL;DR

Researchers developed a method to efficiently separate radioactive thallium isotopes from mercury oxide using thermal decomposition and gas-phase adsorption.

## Contribution

A novel gas-phase separation technique for carrier-free thallium radioisotopes from proton-irradiated mercury oxide is presented.

## Key findings

- Thermal decomposition of HgO at 470–670°C enabled quantitative separation of carrier-free Tl.
- Tl adsorption on Ta surfaces improved separation efficiency.
- Gamma-spectroscopy confirmed the separation of medically relevant Tl isotopes like 201Tl.

## Abstract

Carrier-free \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${^{202}\textrm{Tl}}$$\end{document}202Tl was thermally separated from proton-irradiated \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${^\textrm{nat}\textrm{HgO}}$$\end{document}natHgO. Pressed \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${^\textrm{nat}\textrm{HgO}}$$\end{document}natHgO targets were irradiated with \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\approx {26}\,\textrm{MeV}$$\end{document}≈26MeV protons at the IP2 beamline of the high-intensity proton accelerator facility at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The well-known thermal decomposition of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\textrm{HgO}$$\end{document}HgO at \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$>{470}\,^\circ$$\end{document}>470∘C and the strong adsorption of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\textrm{Tl}$$\end{document}Tl on a \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\textrm{Ta}$$\end{document}Ta surface allowed for a simple and quantitative gas-phase separation of carrier-free \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\textrm{Tl}$$\end{document}Tl from bulk amounts of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\textrm{HgO}$$\end{document}HgO target material between 550 and \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${670}\,^\circ$$\end{document}670∘°C. The separation efficiency was verified by \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\gamma$$\end{document}γ-spectroscopy via the main \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\gamma$$\end{document}γ-emissions of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${^{202}\textrm{Tl}}$$\end{document}202Tl and co-produced \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${^{203}\textrm{Hg}}$$\end{document}203Hg. This method generally provides a fast and reliable preparation of carrier-free, neutron-deficient \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\textrm{Tl}$$\end{document}Tl radioisotopes (e.g., medically relevant \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${^{201}\textrm{Tl}}$$\end{document}201Tl) from a proton-irradiated \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${^\textrm{nat}\textrm{HgO}}$$\end{document}natHgO matrix.