• A new evaluation framework using radar charts with five dimensions (water permeance, water/NaCl selectivity, membrane cost, scale of development, and stability) is proposed to assess desalination membranes.
• Novel membrane materials (e.g., aquaporins, artificial water channels, graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes) show high theoretical performance but face practical challenges such as large-scale fabrication, mechanical strength, and chemical stability.
• Thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes and membranes from novel materials are compared with state-of-the-art thin film composite (TFC) membranes, revealing critical deficiencies that guide future development.
• The review identifies prospects and challenges for next-generation reverse osmosis membranes, providing a comprehensive reference for designing high-performance desalination membranes.