In this study, a novel symmetric supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM) was prepared by infiltrating 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [Bmim][BF4] into a buckypaper (BP) to form a so-called buckypaper supported ionic liquid membrane (BP-SILM). The [Bmim][BF4] was blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) prior to the infiltration. The role of BP as a support can effectively entrap the infiltrated [Bmim][BF4]-PVA in the interstitial pores and supply the necessary mechanical stability for the resulting BP-SILM. The BP-SILM structure, in which the membrane and support phases were merged into a single layer, was found to be different from that of conventional asymmetric membranes. The BP-SILM structure allows the formation of a thinner symmetric membrane without compromising its mechanical properties. During the application of the BP-SILM in the pervaporation process to dehydrate ethylene glycol aqueous solution, the presence of BP and [Bmim][BF4] was observed to significantly enhance the separation performance and enhance the intrinsic membrane permeability. The BP-SILM exhibited high pervaporation performance with a permeation flux of 102 g m(-2) h(-1), a separation factor as high as 1014, and a water permeance of 9046 gpu. The BP-SILM also demonstrated a robust pervaporation performance over an operation of 120 h. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.