Recent advances in functionalized polymer membranes for biofouling control and mitigation in forward osmosis

Forward osmosis (FO) is an osmotically driven process widely studied for water desalination, wastewater treatment, and water reuse, as well as dilution and concentration of aqueous streams. However, its application is still hampered by the lack of ideal draw solutes, high-performance membranes, and fouling/biofouling. Biofouling is particularly challenging when FO is applied for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. Over the last decade, many attempts have been made to exploit advances in materials science to obtain membranes with anti-biofouling properties to prevent or to reduce the detrimental effects of this phenomenon. In this review, we address the various approaches of membrane surface functionalization for biofouling control and mitigation. Recent developments in surface modification of thin-film composite and asymmetric membranes using surface coating, surface functionalization, and incorporation of tailored materials for biofouling control in FO are critically discussed. The future perspectives of anti-biofouling materials and FO membranes are reviewed to shed light on the future research directions for developing the true potential surface modification approach for the FO process.