Forward osmosis (FO)

as one of the emerging desalination technologies

has the potential to produce freshwater from a variety of water sources by utilizing the osmotic pressure gradient across a semi-permeable membrane. Drawsolution

as an essential component of any FO process

can extract watermolecules fromseawater orwastewater. An ideal draw solution should meet three essential requirements

namely high osmotic pressure

low reverse flux

and facile regeneration mechanism. The selection of proper draw solutes is especially critical for an energy-efficient FO process since the energy consumption mostly arises from the separation or regeneration of the draw solution. Recently

we developed a few multi-functional FO draw solutes

mainly aiming to enhance the FO water flux and to explore facile re-concentration methods. This review summarizes these draw solutes

including Na

+

-functionalized carbon quantum dots

thermoresponsive copolymers

hydrophilic magnetic nanoparticles

and thermoresponsive magnetic nanoparticles.