Electrochemical co-deposition of Ni–Gd$_2$O$-3$ for composite thin targets preparation: Production of $^{155}$Tb as a case study

Yizheng Wang (1) , Thomas Sounalet (1) , Arnaud Guertin (1) , Férid Haddad (1, 2) , Nathalie Michel (1) , Etienne Nigron (2)

1 SUBATECH - Laboratoire de physique subatomique et des technologies associées
2 GIP ARRONAX [Nantes]

In the last years, 155Tb has attracted enormous interest due to its potential role in theranostics in nuclear medicine. To estimate its production yield, the aim of this study was to develop a method to prepare thin Gd-enriched-containing targets aimed at the 155Gd(d, 2n)155Tb nuclear cross section measurement. To this end, the electrochemical co-deposition method has been chosen to manufacture Ni–Gd2O3 composite targets. Several process parameters that have an impact on the deposit quality, have been investigated to increase the incorporation of Gd mass (up to 3 mg). To validate the concept, seven targets made by natural Gd were irradiated with deuteron beams at the GIP ARRONAX facility cyclotron, with an energy range ranging from 8 MeV to 30 MeV to extract the cross section values by using the stacked-foils method. Results obtained turned out to have great consistency with existing published data thus validating the proposed method. Therefore, an alternative target manufacturing concept aimed at cross section measurement is presented in this work.

Domaines: Chimie théorique et/ou physique; Chimie thérapeutique; Radiochimie

Yizheng Wang, Thomas Sounalet, Arnaud Guertin, Férid Haddad, Nathalie Michel, et al.. Electrochemical co-deposition of Ni–Gd$_2$O$-3$ for composite thin targets preparation: Production of $^{155}$Tb as a case study. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 2022, 186, pp.110287. ⟨10.1016/j.apradiso.2022.110287⟩. ⟨hal-03672233⟩