Enhanced Anti‐Wetting Methods of Hydrophobic Membrane for Membrane Distillation

Abstract Increasing issues of hydrophobic membrane wetting occur in the membrane distillation (MD) process, stimulating the research on enhanced anti‐wetting methods for membrane materials. In recent years, surface structural construction (i.e., constructing reentrant‐like structures), surface chemical modification (i.e., coating organofluorides), and their combination have significantly improved the anti‐wetting properties of the hydrophobic membranes. Besides, these methods change the MD performance (i.e., increased/decreased vapor flux and increased salt rejection). This review first introduces the characterization parameters of wettability and the fundamental principles of membrane surface wetting. Then it summarizes the enhanced anti‐wetting methods, the related principles, and most importantly, the anti‐wetting properties of the resultant membranes. Next, the MD performance of hydrophobic membranes prepared by different enhanced anti‐wetting methods is discussed in desalinating different feeds. Finally, facile and reproducible strategies are aspired for the robust MD membrane in the future.