Symbols:
AC	Activated carbon
AGMD	Air gap membrane distillation
Am	Effective membrane area (m2)
ATR-FTIR	Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Cf	Feed salt concentration (g L−1)
Cf,f	Final feed salt concentration (g L−1)
CNT	Carbon nanotubes
Cp	Permeate salt concentration (g L−1)
DCMD	Direct contact membrane distillation
di	Mean inter-fiber space (µm)
DSJw	Decay slope of the permeate flux (kg m−2 h−2)
DTGS–KBr	Deuterated triglycine sulfate–potassium bromide
Eb	Elongation at break (%)
ED	Electrodialysis
FA	Fluorinated acrylate copolymer
FO	Forward osmosis
IPA	Isopropyl alcohol
Jw	Permeate flux (kg m−2 h−1)
Jw, average	Average permeate flux (kg m−2 h−1)
LEPw	Liquid entry pressure of water (Pa)
MD	Membrane distillation
MF	Microfiltration
Mn	Number average molecular weight (kg mol−1)
Mw	Mass average molecular weight (kg mol-1)
NaCl	Sodium chloride
NaOCl	Sodium hypochlorite
NF	Nanofiltration
PA	Polyamide
PAN	Polyacrylonitrile
PET	Polyester
PP	Polypropylene
PS	Polystyrene
PSf	Polysulfone
PVDF	Polyvinylidene fluoride
PVDF-HFP	Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)
RO	Reverse osmosis
SBS	Styrene-butadiene-styrene
SEM	Scanning electron microscope
SGMD	Sweeping gas membrane distillation
SiF	Silica fibers
SiO2NPs	Silica nanoparticles
TBAC	Tetrabutylammonium chloride
TFC	Thin film composite
Tf	Feed temperature
Tp	Permeate temperature
Ts	Tensile strength (MPa)
UF	Ultrafiltration
VMD	Vacuum membrane distillation
YM	Young´s modulus (MPa)
Greek letters:
α	Rejection factor
δ	Thickness (µm)
δPVDF	Thickness of the PVDF layer (µm)
δS	Thickness of the support layer (µm)
δt	Total thickness (µm)
ε	Void volume fraction (%)
θw	Water contact angle (°)
(θw)PVDF	Thickness of the PVDF layer (°)
(θw)s	Water contact angle of the support layer (°)
Δm	Mass difference (kg)
Δt	Time difference (h)
ΔT	Temperature difference between the feed and permeate (K)