ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief introduction to radionuclide generator principles and discusses the role of nanosorbents in the preparation of column chromatographic radionuclide generators. It highlights the status of nanomaterial-based radionuclide generators. A radionuclide generator is a self-contained system housing an equilibrium mixture of a parent/daughter radionuclide pair. For practical considerations, radionuclide generators are eluted at periodic intervals depending on the daughter activity requirements. The chapter describes an emerging paradigm in radionuclide generator technology that lies at the intersection of nanotechnology and column chromatographic radiochemical separation technique. Advances in material science have paved the way for synthesis of a wide variety of nanosorbents through different routes to obtain tailored sizes, shapes and distributions. Radionuclide generators have attracted substantial attention, indeed even the close scrutiny of the nuclear medicine community owing to their ability to provide short-lived radioisotopes without the need for on-site nuclear reactor or accelerator facilities for the preparation of a myriad of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.
