Nowadays, efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly materials for the removal of emerging contaminants from the aquatic environment have been sought. Electrospun nanofibrous membranes contain fibers with diameters of submicron or nanometer scale, making them very promising adsorbent materials for use in several areas. In this context, the present study aims to synthesize and apply polymeric nanofiber membranes for solid‐phase extraction of estriol from aqueous solution. Nanofiber membranes of poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) and polyamide‐6 (PA‐6) were tested as adsorbent materials and characterized by different techniques. The electrospinning time was evaluated, and the highest removal obtained for the PA‐6 nanofiber was 76.5%, spun for 100 min, whereas for the PCL nanofiber, 80% time‐independent removal was obtained. The thinner nanofibers had a larger contact area, therefore higher removals, except for the PCL nanofiber, which presented exposed beads on smaller thicknesses that impaired their efficiency. Furthermore, the nanofiber membranes have been applied for the determination of 1.0 mg L−1 of E3 in superficial water sample with satisfactory results. These aspects demonstrate that the synthesized nanofibers present an efficient material for the extraction of estriol: of high simplicity, low cost, and using green chemistry. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47189.

The present study aims to prepare polymeric membranes by electrospinning to apply in the removal of estrone (E1), 17β‐estradiol (E2), and 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2) in aqueous samples. Polymeric membranes of polyamide‐6 (PA6), polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), and poly (butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) were obtained, characterized, and tested as sorbent material in processes of solid membrane extraction (SME) and membrane filtration. The efficiencies of the membranes after washing and/or conditioning processes were compared. The characterizations showed membranes with nanometer‐diameter threads (between 250 and 1200 nm, on average). The four membranes' morphology, chemical composition, and thermal stability were like previous works. PBAT membranes were considered the most effective SME technique as a differential, with 44%–71% removal. For the membrane filtration process, the highest removal values were obtained for the PBAT membrane (82%–91%), which was also efficient in filtering a surface water sample from River Guaíba. PBAT polymeric membrane effectively removes and recovers the studied hormones, lowering production costs and allowing internal and external modifications. These aspects demonstrate that the obtained membranes offer an efficient material in extracting E1, E2, and EE2, of high simplicity, low cost, and green chemistry.

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