Determination of Mo, W and Zr in molybdates and tungstates of zirconium and titanium

Molybdate and tungstate of zirconium and titanium gels, used as matrices of Mo-99/(99)mTc and W-188/Re-188 generators, were synthesized under different conditions, in order to establish their performance and to choose the most appropriate gel to produce commercially. This type of generators demands a high content of Mo or W (> 25%) in the matrices, since they use Mo-99 and W-188 of low specific activities. Therefore, it is of vital importance, to know the concentration of W and Mo in these gels, to determine their viability as matrices of the Mo-99/(99)mTc and W-188/Re-188 generators. There are different analytical methods to determine Mo and W, however, the presence of Zr and Ti in these gels, in many occasions, interfere in the analysis, imposing the previous separation of both metals before their determination. Therefore, the preparation time of the sample, the cost and the generation of chemical waste of these analyses are increasing. In order to eliminate these difficulties, the concentration of Mo, W and Zr of approximately 43 gels of molybdate and tungstate of zirconium and titanium, were evaluated by NAA without preparation of the samples. The results of this study reveal that the conditions of preparation of the gels influence directly their Mo and W content. In general, the titanium molybdate gels possess, on the average, a larger content of Mo (37%) than the zirconium molybdate gels (30%), while the titanium tungstenate gels contain only 8.5%.