Review on Synthesis of Ceramic Membranes to Mitigate Membrane Fouling in Oil–Water Separation

Membrane-based separation processes have been gaining significant attention in the treatment of oily wastewater. To date, a remarkable amount of data is available on the application of membranes in diverse domains such as industrial wastewater treatment, food processing, and medicine. It is becoming a severe issue when process sectors like mining, metallurgy, and petrochemicals discharge oily wastewater. Although oil–water emulsion separation using membrane technology is successful, this method suffers from a serious flux declination problem brought on by fouling during filtration. Keeping this in mind, the aim of this paper is to highlight the recent advancements in the synthesis of ceramic membranes from several perspectives such as feed pretreatment, membrane cleaning, proper operational conditions, and the use of antifouling coatings. Recent study has indicated that surface hydrophilization is the key emphasis in mitigating membrane fouling. Thus, the current state of membrane surface modification technology is reviewed, and future trends are identified.