Solvent-activated thin-film nanocomposite membranes molecularly tuned with macrocyclic cavities for efficient water desalination and boron removal

•An integrative design that combines solvent activation and thin-film nanocomposite formation for RO desalination.•Permeability enhanced by solvent treatment and rejection maintained by size-sieving macrocyclic cavities simultaneously.•The desalination performance surpassed the trade-off limit and the boron removal efficiency was also significantly improved.•Tunable design through varying the solute or solvent in the integrative solvent-cavitand treatment system.