Titanium dioxide mediated photocatalytic degradation of 17β-estradiol in aqueous solution

Photocatalytic degradation of 17β-estradiol (E2) in aqueous medium mediated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) was studied. Moreover, effect of TiO2 dosage on the degradation efficiency was investigated. Particular attention was paid to the identification of intermediates and analysis of photocatalytic degradation mechanism of E2 under neutral and alkaline conditions. The degradation efficiency of E2 increased with increasing concentration of TiO2 but decreased due to light scattering as TiO2 concentration was greater than 0.5 mg ml−1. Several intermediates were formed during photocatalytic degradation of E2. However, only a few of the compounds could be identified and confirmed by LC–MS and LC–MS/MS. Six intermediates were observed by photocatalytic oxidation under alkaline conditions, namely 2-hydroxyestradiol, 10ε-17β-dihydroxy-1,4-estradien-3-one (DEO), 10ε-hydroperoxide-17β-hydroxy-1,4-estradien-3-one and three kinds of dicarboxylic acids formed by the opening of aromatic ring. In addition to the six intermediates mentioned above, 17β-hydroxy-1,4-estradien-3-one (EO) was observed under neutral conditions and in the presence of methanol. Based on these intermediates, which were hardly degraded even after E2 was fully degraded, the mechanism of E2 degradation by TiO2 photocatalysis was elucidated.