APPLICATION OF SEPHADEX TO RADIOCHEMICAL SEPARATIONS

Heteropolymolybdic acid species of a variety of elements bind to Sepha dex (dextran cross-linked by epichlorohydrin). Solution pH can be used as a variable to influence the formation of heteropolymolybdates and thus their affinity for Sephadex. Therefore this material may be used to chromatographically separate certain elements which have been react ed with molybdate in solution. In this paper we report the measurement of distribution coefficients on Sephadex for heteropolymolybdates of As, P, Ge, Si and Se for solutions of varying pH. We also describe the application of the technique to the recovery of Si-32 from proton-irr adiated KCl targets and Ge-68 from proton-irradiated molybdenum target s.