Zn68

Zn-68 is a stable isotope of the element zinc, which has an atomic number of 30 and a mass number of 68. Its nucleus contains 30 protons and 38 neutrons, giving it an even-even configuration that is characteristic of many stable isotopes. Zn-68 is one of the five stable zinc isotopes, the others being Zn-64, Zn-66, Zn-67, and Zn-70.

In natural zinc, Zn-68 occurs as a fraction of the total zinc atoms. Its natural abundance is typically around the high single digits to low teens in percent, commonly cited as roughly 18–19 percent, varying slightly with sample and measurement method.

Nuclear properties of Zn-68 include a ground-state spin of 0+ in line with many even-even nuclei, and it is not radioactive under normal conditions. As a stable nuclide, it does not decay and has an effectively infinite half-life.

Applications and uses of Zn-68 mainly relate to its role as a stable isotope in science and technology. It is employed in isotopic analysis to study zinc sources, transport, and metabolism in geology, environmental science, and biology. Stable isotopes like Zn-68 also serve as calibration standards in mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques. In accelerator-based research, Zn-68 targets can be irradiated to produce Ga-68, a radioisotope widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, though Ga-68 is the radiolabeled product rather than Zn-68 itself.