Excitation functions of proton-induced nuclear reactions on ^natCaCO₃ up to 60 MeV

Sc-47 could be used in SPECT imaging and is also suitable for targeted therapy of small tumours. Application of Sc-47 is quite promising as theranostic with its diagnostic pair Sc-44 or Sc-43. Excitation functions for the production of Sc-47 and its accompanying impurities through proton bombardment of natural calcium carbonate ((CaCO3)-Ca-nat) targets were experimentally evaluated and compared with both previous measurements and TALYS predictions. The integral production yields of Sc-47, as well as the main impurities Sc-44m,Sc-46,Sc-48, were calculated. The consistency of the results with available experimental data was verified for each reaction. The target yield was determined using the measured activity of the produced radionuclides.