Radiolabeling of Copper-64 via Cyclotron

⁶⁴Cu was generated via the proton activation of a ⁶⁴Ni enriched Ni-layer produced via electrodeposition at the in-house cyclotron [42 (link),44 (link)]. The Ni was deposited onto a gold disc from a 0.22 M (NH₄)₂SO₄ solution at pH 9, using a voltage of 2.60 V and a current of 25 mA [45 (link)]. The target was covered with a 100 µm thick aluminum foil and irradiated with 12 MeV protons for ~80 μAh using the Leipzig cyclotron Cyclone^® 18/9 equipped with a COSTIS^® solid target system (IBA Molecular, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) to induce the ⁶⁴Ni(p,n)⁶⁴Cu nuclear reaction. The ⁶⁴Cu was isolated from the target material via the dissolution of the target in 12.5 M HCl. This mixture was then evaporated until dry and re-dissolved in 6 M HCl. Ion exchange chromatography using AG^® 1-X8 resin (Bio-Rad Laboratories GmbH, Feldkirchen, Germany) was then performed to separate the ⁶⁴Cu. Subsequently, the ⁶⁴Cu was eluted from the column using 0.1 M HCl, and the resulting solution was evaporated in a 1.5 mL glass crimp vial.