In this work, a development of polymeric inclusion membranes for the cations separation is reported. The membrane was made up of cellulose triacetate (CTA) with a tributyl phosphate (TBP) incorporated into the polymer as metal ions carrier. The transport of lead (II) and cadmium (II) ions in two membrane systems polymer inclusion membrane (PIM), PIM coupled with photo-chemical electrode using TBP as carrier and 2-nitro phenyl octyl ether (NPOE) or tris ethylhexyl phosphate (TEHP) as plasticizer have been investigated. The membranes: polymer + plasticizer + carrier were synthesized and characterized by FTIR, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Transports of lead and cadmium have been studied using these systems and the results were compared to commercial cation exchange membrane (CRA). The obtained results showed that for Pb2+ ion, the concentrations of the strip phase increases using synthesized membranes. The conduction band of the delafossite CuFeO2 (-1.25 V-SCE) yields a thermodynamically M2+ (=Pb2+, Cd2+) photo electrodeposition and speeds up the diffusion process. In all the cases, the potential of the electrode M/M2+ in the feed compartment increases until a maximum value, reached at similar to 100 min above which it undergoes a diminution. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.