Novel solar-thermal nanofluids for sustainable forward osmosis (FO) desalination systems

Global freshwater scarcity, exacerbated by a growing global population, industrialisation, economic development, changing consumption patterns, climate change, and migration, severely impacts millions of people, especially in developing countries. Forward osmosis (FO), a membrane filtration technique leveraging natural osmotic pressure as its driving force, represents a compelling solution for increasing global freshwater supplies via the desalination of abundant continental sea and brackish waters, particularly considering the limitations of conventional methods like reverse osmosis (RO). Challenges, notably in developing suitable draw solutions (DSs), their efficient recovery and reuse, and maintaining energy efficiency, currently negate the broad adoption of FO as a desalination method for fresh and potable water processing.