A review on the polyamide thin film composite (TFC) membrane used for desalination: Improvement methods, current alternatives, and challenges

It is well known that water treatment and desalination are getting a lot of attention in recent decades due to the increasing scarcity of freshwater resources. Here, studying and developing the stokehold processes, particularly the membrane-based ones, became a persistent need since the membranes’ processes are an essential part of many of the purification technologies. Since it has been patented in the early 1980s, the state-of-the-art thin film composite (TFC) membrane is still the most applied membrane in many desalination processes due to its reliability, simple manufacturing, inexpensiveness, easiness of scale-up, and high-quality water production. However, utilizing this membrane has some obstacles, such as the limited thermal range and fouling. Many contributions by scientists are reported yearly to improve the TFC membrane performance and overcome operational issues. Nanoparticles (NPs), organic salts, polymers, and other additives were added to improve the TFC membrane properties. Also, engineering the process, controlling the physical conditions, and testing new factors and components were other parameters that affected the membrane performance. Many review papers have been showing the basics, researches work, problems of the membranes, and up-to-date findings. In this review, we will try to show the basics, syntheses steps, method of improvement, current alternatives, challenges, and future aspects. A brief perspective on the recent works and the anticipated progress in this field are discussed to comprehend the recent scientific contributions. Also, we are listing some notes for future considerations that may help in improving the membranes and stepping forward.