Performance regulation of a thin film composite (TFC) NF membrane by low-temperature interfacial polymerization assisted by the volatilization of n-hexane

•Low-temperature IP is an efficient strategy to regulate the TFC membrane performance.•7.8 μL cm−2n-hexane volatilization can sharply decrease the substrate temperature to 7.9 °C.•The thickness of PA layer formed at lower temperature was reduced from 26.97 nm to 11.98 nm.•The water permeability of resultant membrane increased by 1.5 times to 36.7 L m−2h−1 bar−1.