Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is a promising technology for extracting energy from salinity gradients. However, there are still barriers to the realization of its commercial application. Developing flexible methods of RED application is a feasible scheme. In this paper, we review and summarize unique RED applications in recent years. The review summarizes RED applications related to energy conversion, desalination technology, and water treatment and some improvements to standard RED. The electricity generated by RED or combined RED can be converted to hydrogen or other energy forms and stored in a battery for access at any time. RED heat engine expands RED application with conversion of waste heat to electricity. RED can be coupled with one or more desalination technologies to improve the power density of RED and minimize the influence of brine discharge from desalination technology on the environment. RED or combined RED can also be used for water treatment by direct or indirect reactions. The review also summarizes the improvements of electrodes, feed solutions, membranes and operation of membrane cell for RED. With the development of related technologies, RED will play an important role in an increasing number of fields.

反向电渗析（RED）是一种从盐度梯度中提取能量的有前途的技术。但是，实现其商业应用仍然存在障碍。开发灵活的RED应用方法是可行的方案。在本文中，我们回顾并总结了近年来独特的RED应用。该评论总结了RED在能量转换，淡化技术和水处理方面的应用，并对标准RED进行了一些改进。RED或RED组合产生的电能可以转化为氢或其他能量形式，并存储在电池中以便随时使用。RED热机通过将废热转化为电能来扩展RED应用。RED可以与一种或多种脱盐技术结合使用，以提高RED的功率密度，并最大程度地降低脱盐技术排放的盐水对环境的影响。RED或RED组合也可以通过直接或间接反应用于水处理。该综述还总结了RED的电极，进料溶液，膜和膜池操作的改进。随着相关技术的发展，RED将在越来越多的领域中发挥重要作用。