A novel interfacial polymerization approach was used in this study and applied to prepare the thin film composite reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with some excellent properties. The surface of the membranes was characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) and X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the membranes prepared by novel interfacial polymerization approach have smoother surface than the membranes obtained by traditional interfacial polymerization approach. There is a large amount of amino group (-NH2) on the topmost surface of the active skin layer of the membrane yielded by novel interfacial polymerization approach, comparing to carboxylic acid groups (-COOH) synthesized by traditional interfacial polymerization approach. Moreover, the membrane made by novel interfacial polymerization approach exhibited better antifouling property than that prepared by traditional interfacial polymerization approach. A unique and simple method to prepare thin film composite RO membranes with good membrane performance property was demonstrated. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.