BACKGROUNDThis work involved a systematic study of the recovery of ibuprofen (IBP) from aqueous solutions by emulsion liquid membranes (ELM). RESULTSA preliminary liquid-liquid extraction study was performed in order to determine the most appropriate system to extract the IBP. The results show that Parleam 4 and NaOH work very well as extractant and strippant, respectively. The conditions for preparing the ELMs were established. The influence of parameters such as the agitation speed, preparation time and composition of the ELM were evaluated for membrane stability (by laser diffraction) and for IBP recovery efficiency. It was also shown that the influence of trioctylamine (TOA) in the ELM is such that only a low concentration is required to obtain stable and highly efficient membranes. CONCLUSIONThe membrane prepared with Parleam 4 + TOA 0.1% w/V + Abil EM 90 at 5% w/V as organic phase, and NaOH 0.05 mol L-1, as internal aqueous phase, showed the highest recovery percentages (> 99%) with a very fast kinetic transfer (5 minutes of contact). (c) 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.