Novel thermally stable composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes were prepared from piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) on poly (phthalazione ether nitrile ketone) (PPENK) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes by interfacial polymerization. The effects of monomers concentration, reaction time and organic solvents on the performance of composite membranes were investigated. The effects of operating pressure and the salt solution concentration on the performance of composite membranes were also discussed. The different salts rejection of PPENK composite membranes decreased in the order of Na2SO4 > MgSO4 > Al-2(SO4)(3) > NaCl > MgCl2, which indicated a negative charge at the membrane surface. The flux and Na2SO4 rejection of PPENK composite membranes reached 57.9 L/m(2) h and 98.4% under the optimized conditions and operating pressure of 1.0 MPa. Furthermore, the morphology and chemical structure of membranes were examined by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively. Moreover, the thermal stability of PPENK NF membranes was also investigated. When temperature of the feed solution raised from 20 degrees C to 80 degrees C, the permeation flux increased about four times without significant change of rejection. The flux increased first then reached a plateau and the rejection kept constant when PPENK NF membranes in boiling de-ionized water were boiled to 3 h. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.