Abstract:
68Ga is currently one of the most widely used positron emission tomography(PET) diagnostic radionuclides in clinical practice, primarily obtained from
68Ge-
68Ga generators. This study aims to develop a high-performance filler material suitable for
68Ge-
68Ga generators by systematically comparing the structural, morphological, and adsorptive properties of titanium dioxide(TiO
2) adsorbents synthesized
via three distinct methods: the sol-gel method, the hydrothermal method, and the alcohol-solvothermal method. The prepared TiO
2 materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) surface area analysis to evaluate their crystal phase, morphology, specific surface area, pore size distribution, and chemical stability in acidic media. Among the three synthesis routes, the sol-gel method yields TiO
2 with superior physicochemical characteristics, including a high specific surface area of 73.84 m
2/g, a favorable average pore diameter of 7.89 nm, and significantly enhanced separation efficiency between germanium(Ge) and gallium(Ga). Dynamic column experiments demonstrated that TiO
2 prepared via the sol-gel method exhibited a low tailing factor of 1.51, indicating excellent chromatographic peak symmetry and high separation resolution. Furthermore, acid solubility tests revealed that the sol-gel-derived TiO
2 met the pharmaceutical standard(<0.5%) required for medical-grade materials, the hydrothermally synthesized sample showed the highest dissolution(0.095%). The optimized sol-gel procedure employs titanium(Ⅳ) butoxide as the titanium precursor and isopropanol as the solvent, followed by a two-step calcination process at 400 ℃ and subsequently at 500 ℃. The resulting material is identified as pure anatase-phase TiO
2, which exhibits a high dynamic adsorption capacity for Ge(Ⅳ) ions, with a breakthrough capacity of 1.88 mg/g and a saturation capacity of 3.96 mg/g. When applied in a microcurie-level
68Ge-
68Ga generator, the optimized TiO
2 adsorbent enables efficient and stable elution of
68Ga using 0.100 mol/L hydrochloric acid as the eluent. Over a continuous operation period of 270 days, the
68Ga elution efficiency remains consistently between 60% and 80%, while the
68Ge breakthrough rate is maintained below 10
−3%, demonstrating exceptional selectivity for retaining the parent nuclide. Radiochemical purity analysis confirms that the eluted
68Ga product has a radionuclidic purity exceeding 99.9% and a radiochemical purity of 99%, meeting the quality specifications for clinical radiopharmaceutical applications. These comprehensive results validate the practical applicability of the sol-gel-derived anatase TiO
2 as a robust and reliable adsorbent material for the construction of high-performance
68Ge-
68Ga generators, offering significant potential for domestic production and clinical translation.