Forward osmosis (FO), as one of the emerging desalination technologies, has the potential to produce freshwater from a variety of water sources by utilizing the osmotic pressure gradient across a semi-permeable membrane. Draw solution, as an essential component of any FO process, can extract water molecules from seawater or wastewater. An ideal draw solution should meet three essential requirements, namely high osmotic pressure, low reverse flux, and facile regeneration mechanism. The selection of proper draw solutes is especially critical for an energy-efficient FO process since the energy consumption mostly arises from the separation or regeneration of the draw solution. Recently, we developed a few multi-functional FO draw solutes, mainly aiming to enhance the FO water flux and to explore facile re-concentration methods. This review summarizes these draw solutes, including Na+-functionalized carbon quantum dots, thermoresponsive copolymers, hydrophilic magnetic nanoparticles, and thermoresponsive magnetic nanoparticles. (C) 2015 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.