The freshwater shortage continues to be one of the greatest challenges affecting our planet. Although traditional membrane distillation (MD) can produce clean water regardless of climatic conditions, the process wastes a lot of energy. The technique of solar-powered membrane distillation (SPMD) has received a lot of interest in the past decade, thanks to the development of photothermal materials. SPMD is a promising replacement for the traditional MD based on fossil fuels, as it can prevent the harmful effects of emissions on the environment. Integrating green solar energy with MD can reduce the cost of the water purification process and secure freshwater production in remote areas. At this point, it is important to consider the most current progress of the SPMD system and highlight the challenges and prospects of this technology. Based on this, the background, recent advances, and principles of MD and SPMD, their configurations and mechanisms, fabrication methods, advantages, and current limitations are discussed. Detailed comparisons between SPMD and traditional MD, assessments of various standards for incorporating photothermal materials with desirable properties, discussions of desalination and other applications of SPMD and MD, and energy consumption rates are also covered. The final section addresses the potential of SPMD to outperform traditional desalination technology while improving water production without requiring a significant amount of electrical or high-grade thermal energy.

The aqueous system is being polluted by the untreated direct discharge of industrial oily wastewater into the ecosystem. Due to its low cost, energy economy, and sustainability, the advanced membrane filtration method is regarded as one of the best methods for treating oily wastewater. Its exceptional atomic thickness and superior amphiphilic properties of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheet make it one of the finest 2D constituents for creating membranes with high permeability. Nevertheless, the interlayer d-spacing of multi-stacked GO membranes is crucial since it is responsible for the permeability/selectivity trade-off. To efficiently separate oil-in-water emulsion using an in-situ polymerization technique, we developed an aquaporin-like 3D hierarchical multi-functionalized nanoporous graphene (NPG) membrane with tripartite nanochannels. The extraordinary, prepared membrane displayed both ultra-water-permeability of 2490 L m⁻² h⁻¹.bar along with superior selectivity. Consequently, the permeance of the aquaporin-like 3D hierarchical multi-functionalized NPG membrane achieves a higher flux than the GO membrane, while the oil rejection reaches ~97%.

This research presents a new amino-modified activated carbon (MAC) nanohybrid and its use in polylactic acid (PLA) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for treating wastewater. The MAC composite was produced through three steps: activated carbon pretreatment, modification, and heat-induced cross-linking. The composite membranes were made using the phase inversion technique and optimized by varying the concentration of the MAC nanohybrid. The synthesis was confirmed through several methods, and the membranes were characterized using different techniques, such as SEM, surface zeta potential, water flux, and pore-size/porosity. Static adsorption and dynamic filtration experiments were conducted to investigate the membrane's flux-rejection performance and pH-responsiveness. The results showed that the MAC nanohybrid significantly improved the properties of the PLA membrane, such as increasing the pure water flux and enhancing heavy metal ions rejection, among others. The composite membranes also exhibited improved adsorption and desorption behavior. The study suggests that adding the MAC nanohybrid has promising potential for these composite membranes in the wastewater treatment industry.