The use of 8-hydroxyquinoline for the separation of yttrium-90 in the determination of strontium-90 in biological materials

Abstract

Homogeneous precipitation of yttrium carrier as the 8-hydroxyquinolinate has been used for the isolation and purification of yttrium-90 after the separation of the parent strontium-90 from biological materials. The technique has been compared with the generally used method of separating by hydroxide and oxalate precipitations and estimating the recovery by weighing as the oxide. The two methods are of similar accuracy but the new procedure is more direct and simple. Satisfactory decontamination from radioactive strontium is obtained by a single precipitation. The 8-hydroxyquinolinate can be weighed directly for the measurement of chemical yield, and it has a more favourable gravimetric factor than yttrium oxide.