Production of cerium-141 using ceria and nanoceria powder: a potential radioisotope for simultaneous therapeutic and diagnostic applications

Cerium-141 [T 1/2 = 32.5 days, β 1 = 580.4 keV (30 %), β 2 = 435.0 keV (70 %), γ = 145.4 keV (48 %)], has been introduced as a radionuclide for therapy while can be used in diagnosis as well. In this study, nuclear model calculation on 141Ce production was investigated via the 140Ce(d,p)141Ce, 142Ce(d,dn)141Ce, 141Pr(n,p)141Ce, and 140Ce(n,γ)141Ce nuclear reactions. 140Ce was irradiated by thermal neutron at the Tehran Research Reactor according to the 140Ce(n,γ)141Ce reaction. In addition, the obtained activity of the produced 141Ce was compared with the theoretical calculations. The results showed that the end of bombardment activities of 141Ce is 631.64 MBq theoretically and 611.60 MBq experimentally for ceria powder. The activities of similar samples of ceria (CeO2) powder in two forms of nano-particles (nanoceria) and bulk were compared after bombardment by thermal neutrons. The results showed that activities of nanoceria were less than the bulk form of ceria.