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According to the Szilard–Chalmers effect, 99Mo recoil atoms can be obtained in nuclear reactions and recorded in a collector. Knowledge of the dependence of the yield of 99Mo atoms on the thickness of the molybdenum layer is necessary for their efficient collection. The yield of 99Mo recoil atoms from molybdenum nanolayers in the nuclear reaction 100Mo(p, x)99Mo was measured as a function of the thickness of the nanolayer. Nanolayers of metallic molybdenum were fabricated by magnetron sputtering on sapphire plates. The measurements were performed after the nanolayers were irradiated by 28 MeV protons in the U-150 cyclotron. The yield of 99Mo recoil atoms for 38–205 nm thick nanolayers was 65–8%. It was found that the maximum 99Mo yield obtains with molybdenum layer thickness 80 ± 5 nm. It was found that the free path of 99Mo recoil atoms in native metallic molybdenum is equal to 34 ± 9 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radionuclide 99Mo was produced and separated in the process of irradiating powdered mixtures of molybdenum compounds and buffer particles by 30 MeV protons. The separation is based on the Szilard-Chalmers effect wherein 99Mo recoil particles are fixed in inert buffer particles. Two types of targets were investigated by using mixtures: soluble molybdenum compound-insoluble buffer and insoluble molybdenum compound-soluble buffer. 99Mo yield equal to 20% with enrichment coefficient 18.3 was obtained by using a target consisting of a mixture of submicron 100MoO3 and Al2O3 particles; the 99Mo yield was equal to 20% and the enrichment coefficient 18.3. For a target with the composition 100MoS2 + KCl, making it possible to separate 99Mo recoil atoms directly into solution, the 99Mo yield was equal to 8.7% and the enrichment coefficient 30.7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]