Forward osmosis filtration: technology, companies and research

Asahi Kasei Corporation, IDE WATER TECHNOLOGIES LTD. and Porifera Inc. are among the companies associated with forward osmosis filtration. Asahi Kasei is also linked to a forward-osmosis–membrane-distillation system integrated at Peptistar in June 2026 for trial production of pharmaceutical ingredients. FACTS lists 27 companies overall, though the named organizations have different roles across the field.

The University of Tehran, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah are among the active research organizations. Their work includes thin-film composite membrane interlayers, responsive hydrogel draw agents and nanocomposite membranes. Recent publications also name East China University of Science and Technology and Babol Noshirvani University of Technology for membrane-material advances.

FACTS reports $16,990,973 in grants across 9 grants since 2020. It also lists 5 funding rounds totaling $5,260,529,459, but these are broader organization-level figures and should not be read as dedicated forward-osmosis investment. The grant total is the more direct funding indicator supplied for this technology area.

Asahi Kasei Corporation leads the listed patent holders with 11 patents. IDE WATER TECHNOLOGIES LTD. has 5, while Porifera Inc. and Beijing Baoshengtong International Electrical Engineering Technology Co Ltd each have 4. These counts identify prominent holders in FACTS; they do not establish the commercial status or scope of each patent.

No: FACTS lists 72 patents in the 24-month window and reports patent activity growth of -28.6%. Publication activity also declined, with 258 publications in the last year and growth of -13.4%. These indicators describe recent recorded activity, while active work on membrane materials and draw-solution engineering shows continued research despite the declines.

Forward osmosis filtration is an active research and development field, with FACTS reporting 258 publications in the last year and 72 patents in the 24-month window. Its process principle is established, but internal concentration polarization, fouling, water flux and draw-solution recovery remain significant engineering challenges. Recent deployment of an FO–membrane-distillation system for trial production shows movement toward application.

In September 2026, East China University of Science and Technology reported a thin-film nanocomposite membrane using biomass-derived graphene quantum dots, and the University of Tehran studied a polyvinyl alcohol–glutaraldehyde interlayer. In June 2026, Peptistar integrated an Asahi Kasei FO–membrane-distillation system for trial production of pharmaceutical ingredients. These developments span materials improvement and process integration.

China leads with 1,243 documents, followed by the United States with 1,007. Australia, South Korea and Japan are also among the leading countries in FACTS. These figures indicate where the recorded research and technology activity is concentrated, rather than measuring installed capacity or market adoption.

Desalination is the largest listed application, with 265 documents, followed by wastewater treatment and reuse with 206. Resource recovery and brine management account for 113 documents. Other listed uses include food and beverage processing and pharmaceutical and bioprocessing, including juice concentration and recovery of nutrients or valuable materials from wastewater and brines.

The main approaches are thin-film composite, cellulose-based, nanocomposite and biomimetic membranes, plus draw-solution engineering. Membrane approaches change the selective layer, support or surface to balance water flux, rejection and fouling resistance. Draw-solution engineering instead focuses on the osmotic driving force and its recovery. Across approaches, polarization, stability and regeneration remain trade-offs.