Water scarcity is a grand challenge that requires continuous exploration of new desalination technologies in order to augment the global supply of fresh water. In this context, membrane distillation (MD) is a promising technology that operates based on a thermal gradient to transfer vapor molecules across a porous hydrophobic membrane. Lack of suitable membranes is one of the major challenges hindering commercialization of the MD process. As a result, MD membranes have attracted unprecedented research attention over the decades and significant progress has been witnessed in the design and fabrication of suitable MD membranes. This review represents a timely overview of the desired characteristics of MD membranes that have been developed. The state of the art of various developments and the recent research trends in MD membrane have been thoroughly discussed. An up-to-date review of the polymeric, inorganic, electrospun, dual-layer, triple-layer, and modified MD membranes is provided. Finally, the research gaps, challenges faced, and future research directions are highlighted.

水资源短缺是一项重大挑战，需要不断探索新的海水淡化技术，以增加全球淡水供应。在这种情况下，膜蒸馏 (MD) 是一种很有前途的技术，它基于热梯度进行操作，将蒸汽分子转移到多孔疏水膜上。缺乏合适的膜是阻碍 MD 工艺商业化的主要挑战之一。因此，数十年来，MD 膜引起了前所未有的研究关注，并且在合适的 MD 膜的设计和制造方面取得了重大进展。这篇综述及时概述了已开发的 MD 膜的所需特性。MD 膜的各种发展现状和最近的研究趋势已经进行了彻底的讨论。提供了对聚合物、无机、电纺、双层、三层和改性 MD 膜的最新评论。最后，强调了研究空白、面临的挑战和未来的研究方向。