Forward osmosis desalination via laminar graphene oxide-based membranes: A comprehensive review of principles, current state-of-the-art, challenges, and perspectives

As freshwater demand rises, innovative water treatment technologies are sought. Forward Osmosis (FO) has emerged as a promising membrane-based method for desalination and purification, overcoming challenges of traditional methods. FO membranes demand optimal water permeability, salt rejection, and stability. Despite its potential, FO faces issues including reverse solute flux (RSF) and internal concentration polarisation (ICP), reducing water flux. Carbon-based nanomaterials, especially graphene oxide (GO) laminar sheets, exhibit excellent desalination performance as FO membranes. However, scaling up GO-based FO membranes presents challenges in balancing water flux, salt rejection, and stability for industrial desalination application. This review discusses the ideal FO membrane design criteria, focussing on the state-of-the-art development of GO-based laminar FO membranes in terms of water permeation, salt rejection, scalability, stability, and fouling resistance. Current challenges and perspectives for enhancing laminar GO-based FO membranes are outlined.