• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

$^{89}Zr$ with the favorable nuclear decay kinetics and chemical properties is an appealing radiometal for its application in immuno-PET using radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies. Rising demand of ultrahigh purity and high-specific activity $^{89}Zr$ has propelled the radiochemist worldwide to develop an overall efficacious method for its promising separation from the target matrix $^{89}Y$. The requirement of elevated radiochemical purity (${\geq}$ 99.99%) has accelerated the efforts since last two decades to achieve higher decontamination and separation factors of carrier free $^{89}Zr$ over $^{89}Y$ using several suitable separation techniques. However, each of the technique has its own pros and cons which prior to its actual medical application needs to be optimized and thoroughly scrutinized to avoid further complications during radiolabelling of the pharmaceuticals. In this short review article we will specifically consider as well focus on the historical development and the recent advances on the radiochemical separation of $^{89}Zr$ from $^{89}Y$ which will be helpful for the separation scientist involved in this area to understand the existing available means and plan the strategy to investigate and develop the novel techniques to overcome the problems involved in the present methods.