Separation of 90 Nb from bulk yttrium target using two food derived alkaloids

nat Y was irradiated with 34 MeV α-particles to produce 90 Nb. Separation of 90 Nb from bulk yttrium target was carried out using two naturally occurring alkaloids namely caffeine extracted from black tea leaves and piperine extracted from black pepper, both of which are commonly used in everyday household. In both the cases, SLX was opted as caffeine was insoluble in 2 M Na 2 SO 4 and piperine in HCl of varying concentration. 90 Nb was preferentially extracted by caffeine and piperine precipitate and bulk yttrium remained in supernatant. DFT calculations suggest the preferential binding of 90 Nb to different binding sites on caffeine and piperine.