To enhance the separation efficiency of vanadium from impurities, the highly selective separation of vanadium from multiple impurities and the transport mechanism of vanadium from a black shale leaching-solution, by a supported liquid membrane (SLM) using trialkylamine (N235) as the carrier, were investigated. The effects of parameters such as feed-solution pH, carrier concentration, stripping-solution species, and diluent nature were studied. The separation performance of the SLM system for vanadium from the main impurities in the black shale acid leaching-solution-Fe, Al, P, Si, K, and Mg-was also discussed. The diffusion parameters and facilitated transport mechanism were evaluated using a first order kinetic model. By enhancing the mass transfer of vanadium and the competitive extraction between vanadium and the impurity ions, the performance of the SLM system for the separation of vanadium from the highly impure black shale leaching-solution was significantly improved. These results show that highly selective separation of vanadium from impurities can be achieved using the N235-SLM system, indicating promising prospects for application in the vanadium industry. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers.