Making waves: breaking bottlenecks in forward osmosis through strategic integration with other techniques for resource recovery

Forward osmosis (FO) has emerged as a promising technology for recovering nutrients, biofuels, metals, and minerals from diverse water sources, including wastewater and salt-lake brines. However, significant bottlenecks such as membrane fouling, draw solution regeneration, concentration polarization (CP), and reverse solute diffusion (RSD) continue to hinder its broader application. Current research has focused primarily on intrinsic solutions, including the development of advanced membrane materials, antifouling coatings, and hydrodynamic optimizations. While these strategies have shown potential, their scalability and general applicability remain limited. Forward osmosis-integrated (FOI) systems offer innovative solutions by leveraging hybrid mechanisms to address these challenges. Herein, we examine recent advancements in FOI systems, emphasizing their role in enhancing draw solute recovery, improving resource extraction efficiency, mitigating fouling, and reusing RSD. FOI systems highlight their transformative potential through integration with biological, membrane-based, and electrochemical methods. These hybrid approaches not only address key challenges but also provide new insights into resource recovery and wastewater treatment, underscoring their critical role in advancing FO toward sustainable and efficient solutions.