Shape-persistent COF-derived functional carbon microspheres for No-carrier added 177Lu separation

Porous carbon materials stemming from covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged as pivotal candidates in various fields. However, no COF or relevant derivative has stepped into the recovery of no-carrier added (NCA) 177Lu, one of the most important radionuclides in modern medicine, from irradiated target. In this work, shape-persistent COF-derived carbon microsphere (COF-CMS) was successfully synthesized via self-templated carbonization and subsequently functionalized with active component 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507). The prepared functional COF-CMS@P507 has shown high selectivity and fast adsorption kinetics for Yb3+/Lu3+ in static batch adsorption and great potential in dynamic column separation of Lu3+ from Yb3+. More importantly, based on plenty of tracer experiments and practical investigations, a separation process flow was established to realize the isolation of 177Lu from an irradiated 176Yb target. Consequently, 177Lu product can be effectively obtained in preferable recovery (86%) with high radinuclidic and chemical purity (≥99.99%). The present study provides a new idea for NCA 177Lu production, which is also valuable for the development of lanthanide separation and functional COFs.