Preliminary Study on the Removal of Steroidal Estrogens Using TiO2-Doped PVDF Ultrafiltration Membranes

Steroidal estrogens are a representative type of endocrine-disrupting chemical contaminant that has been detected in surface water. In this paper, modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared by adding different amounts of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and nano-TiO2particles. PVDF-PVP membrane adsorption, UV photolysis and PVDF-PVP-TiO2membrane photocatalysis performance were investigated by considering the rejection of estrone (E1) and 17β-estradiol (E2) in the cross-flow filtration experiments. The mechanism of photocatalytic degradation on TiO2-doped PVDF membranes was also evaluated. The results from the study indicated that adding PVP and nano-TiO2appropriately in PVDF membranes could be an effective method for better E1and E2 rejection due to adsorption and photocatalytic degradation.Keywords:steroidal estrogens;estrone;17β-estradiol;PVDF-PVP-TiO2ultrafiltration membrane;photocatalysis;water