Separation and degradation detection of nanogram-per-litre concentrations of radiolabelled steroid hormones using combined liquid chromatography and flow scintillation analysis.

Detection of micropollutants such as steroid hormones occurring in the aquatic environment at concentrations between ng/L and µg/L remains a major challenge, in particular when treatment efficiency is to be evaluated. Steroid hormones are typically analysed using mass-spectrometry methods, requiring pre-concentration and/or derivatisation procedures to achieve required detection limits. Free of sample preparation steps, the use of radiolabelled contaminants with liquid scintillation counting is limited to single-compound systems and require a separation of hormone mixtures before detection.

Efficient Photocatalytic Removal of Methylene Blue Using a Metalloporphyrin-Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Hybrid Membrane in a Flow-Through Reactor.

A novel combination of a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane with pore size 0.2 μm and a photosensitizer 5,10,15,20-tetrakis (pentafluorophenyl)-21,23-porphine palladium(II) (PdTFPP) makes a promising hybrid material for the generation of singlet oxygen (O) and, thus, water treatment applications. The fabricated photocatalytic membrane exhibits permeability of 4280 ± 250 L·m·h·bar and stable photocatalytic degradation performance over a 90 h period, when illuminated with green light (528 ± 20 nm) and operated in a dead-end, single-pass configuration.