Microbial deposition and growth on polyamide reverse osmosis membrane surfaces: Mechanisms, impacts, and potential cures

Membrane technologies have been extensively used in municipal or industrial wastewater reuse, desalination, and other water treatment processes. However, the inevitable membrane biofouling issue still limits the application of PA RO membranes in practical production. In this paper, the various aspects of PA RO membrane biofouling were reviewed, and the related causes, theories, and mechanisms of membrane biofouling were discussed. The development and current trends of membrane cleaning and different RO pretreatment technologies were summarized, and the necessity of adopting membrane pretreatment technology was highlighted. Furthermore, progress in research of antifouling RO membrane surface construction was reviewed, and anti-biofouling modification strategies and mechanisms, and their relative characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages were compared. The final section of the review discussed the challenges, technical issues, and future research directions, and the emphasis was providing novel ideas for mitigating RO membrane biofouling. The purpose of this review is to afford up-to-date insights into the mitigation tactics and underlying mechanisms of membrane biofouling. Given that microbial fouling is a ubiquitous issue, it is of significant reference significance to clarify the mechanism, structure, strategy, and modification technology of RO membrane anti-biofouling for most membrane materials used in urban sewage treatment, industrial wastewater reuse, and desalination.