New electrochemical method for separation of the iodine‑131 radiopharmaceutical produced from uranium‑235 fission

Abstract

An alternative method based on electrochemical techniques for separation and purification of iodine in the presence of ruthenium, molybdenum, and tellurium, which are some elements resultants from uranium fission reaction, is proposed. For this, all elements were electrochemically characterized using the cyclic voltammetry technique. All the characterization and separation were performed using different parameters, such as temperature, pH, concentration, and potential, aiming to determine the optimized operation conditions to achieve the highest separation yield. The highest iodine yields were observed in acidic medium, at 298 and 313 K, and in lower iodine concentrations, which resulted in a separation rate of 45%. On the other hand, the iodine separation in basic medium resulted in very poor yields, indicating that the separation is not efficient in pH > 8.