Desalination via pervaporation has been considered as an attractive membrane process for obtaining clean water from non-potable saline sources, which has advantages, i.e., it is superior in salt rejection and has the capability of coping with high-salinity feed solutions. In the pervaporation process, the membrane material plays the key factor because it is governing the overall efficiency. This overview of nanocomposite pervaporation membranes for desalination mostly emphasizes on membrane materials, the effect of operating parameters on pervaporation performance, and the current research towards the development of nanocomposite membrane. Nearly all types of membranes ever stated in pervaporation desalination are mentioned, based on polymers, inorganic materials and hybrid organicinorganic materials (nanocomposite) with their performance in terms of water flux and salt rejection. (c) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.