## 1 Introduction
However, the cost of pretreatment to remove calcium sulfate and dissolved iron is relatively high, and silicon scaling proves more difficult, so prevention becomes the primary focus. In summary, membrane fouling can have negative effects on the treatment and operational costs of RO systems, leading to a decrease in water quality and a shorter lifespan for the membranes. Additionally, it increases the maintenance and replacement costs of the membranes and raises the risk of biofouling. Therefore, the development of effective strategies to mitigate membrane fouling and enhance permeate flux continues to be the primary objective and challenge in current research. To enhance the efficiency of membrane desalination, researchers often explore various factors, including membrane materials, operating conditions, and influent conditions [21]. Pretreatment, backwashing, membrane surface modification, and chemical treatment are commonly studied approaches in this regard [22; 23; 24]. However, such methods may bring additional costs, secondary pollution, and potential physical damage to the membrane structure. Moreover, membrane modification and chemical treatment often involve lengthy research and development cycles. As an alternative, the integration of electric or magnetic fields with RO technology has emerged as a promising avenue to improve membrane desalination performance while mitigating some of these concerns. This innovative approach offers potential benefits in terms of enhanced efficiency and reduced operational and environmental impacts, making it a compelling area of investigation for researchers in the field. Research on electric fields to reduce membrane fouling and improve permeate flux is not new; there have been many studies on electric field application in microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and forward osmosis, and some success has been achieved [25]. [PERSON] [26] studied the impact of Ca\({}^{2+}\) on the fouling of the membrane in electric field-assisted microfiltration filtration and found that the charge shielding effect of Ca\({}^{2+}\) was obvious at 1.5 V, which meant that the slowing down of membrane fouling by the electric field was not obvious. When it was increased to 3 V, the assisting influence of the electric field became apparent. [PERSON] [27] introduced a self-generated electric field into the MBR system, operating at a maximum electric field intensity of 11.83 mV/cm; because of the action of the electric field-generated H\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{2}\) and -OH, the surface pollutant-specific area on the membrane was reduced by 68.2% compared with the control group. [PERSON] [28] investigated the effect of electro-ultrafiltration membranes on the antiscaling of natural organic matter (NOM) and also concluded that the electric field caused the ultrafiltration to increase the flux of hydrophilic substances in NOM by 20%, and the improvement in the solution with the coexistence of Ca\({}^{2+}\) and HA was more obvious. [PERSON] [29] showed a conductive thin-film composite forward osmosis membrane, which, at a voltage of 2 V, was highly effective in preventing organic substances from adhering to the surface of the membrane. In addition, some have used the direct combination of an electric field and forward osmosis technology to alleviate the fouling problem during algae harvesting, and it was found that the electric field was effective in reducing the formation of algal fouling on the membrane surface. When a higher electric field was added, the permeate flux increased by 20-40% and the recovery increased by 10-20% [30]. [PERSON] [31] used a variable-frequency electric field as a pretreatment process for seawater treatment by RO, and the solute rejection and permeate flux were increased by 15-35%, respectively, and the pollutants adhering to the membrane surface were also relatively reduced. Similarly, [PERSON] [32] applied an AC-induced electromagnetic field (EMF) to RO wastewater treatment.