Separation process based on polyamide (PA) thin film composite (TFC) membrane is the dominant desalination technology in the 21st century to produce potable water to meet the growing global freshwater demand. Despite offering good filtration performance and exhibiting stable chemical and mechanical properties, TFC membrane still encounters other technical challenges such as surface fouling and trade-off feature between water permeability and solute selectivity which prompt continuous research efforts. There has been growing interest in recent years among researchers to alter the surface properties of PA layer via various modification methods to overcome the drawbacks of typical selective layer. But the question that remains to be answered – Does the modified PA layer effective for performance improvement? It is the aim of this article to provide a comprehensive review on the modification techniques (i.e., surface coating, surface grafting, plasma treatment and layer-by-layer assembly) and the modifying materials (both organic and inorganic materials) that have been commonly employed to establish a functionalized layer atop PA layer to improve its characteristics for desalination process. We hope this review that covers the relevant articles published over the past 10 years could provide insights to scientists in modifying selective layer of TFC membranes for better performance in water treatment processes.

基于聚酰胺 (PA) 薄膜复合 (TFC) 膜的分离工艺是 21 世纪主要的海水淡化技术，用于生产饮用水以满足日益增长的全球淡水需求。尽管具有良好的过滤性能和稳定的化学和机械性能，TFC 膜仍面临其他技术挑战，例如表面污染以及透水性和溶质选择性之间的权衡特性，这促使人们不断进行研究。近年来，研究人员对通过各种改性方法改变 PA 层的表面性质以克服典型选择性层的缺点越来越感兴趣。但仍有待回答的问题——修改后的 PA 层对性能提升是否有效？本文的目的是对改性技术（即表面涂层、表面接枝、等离子体处理和逐层组装）和改性材料（有机和无机材料）进行全面综述。用于在 PA 层顶部建立功能化层，以改善其脱盐过程的特性。我们希望这篇涵盖过去 10 年发表的相关文章的综述能够为科学家们提供见解，以改进 TFC 膜的选择性层，以在水处理过程中获得更好的性能。等离子处理和逐层组装）和改性材料（有机和无机材料），这些材料通常用于在 PA 层上建立功能化层，以改善其淡化过程的特性。我们希望这篇涵盖过去 10 年发表的相关文章的综述能够为科学家们提供见解，以改进 TFC 膜的选择性层，以在水处理过程中获得更好的性能。等离子处理和逐层组装）和改性材料（有机和无机材料），这些材料通常用于在 PA 层上建立功能化层，以改善其淡化过程的特性。我们希望这篇涵盖过去 10 年发表的相关文章的综述能够为科学家们提供见解，以改进 TFC 膜的选择性层，以在水处理过程中获得更好的性能。