Polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) containing commercial dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid (DNNS) as the carrier were studied to ascertain their potential for use as the semi-permeable barrier in a passive sampler for the accumulation of ammonia. Extensive screening of membrane compositions using cellulose triacetate (CTA) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as the base polymers and different plasticizers/modifiers (i.e. 2-nitrophenyloctylether (NPOE), dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and 1-tetradecanol) was conducted and successful membranes were studied for their ability to extract and back-extract ammonia using a 3.00 mg L-1 NH4+ aqueous feed solution and 1.0 mol L-1 HCl aqueous receiving solution. The CIA and PVC-based PIM providing the highest extraction rates and best stability contained 70 wt% CIA and 30 wt% commercial DNNS; and 80 wt% PVC, 10 wt% commercial DNNS and 10 wt% 1-tetradecanol as a modifier. The PVC-based PIM was found to be more stable than the CIA-based PIM, having a mass loss of its liquid phase of only 3.2 wt after 24 h of immersion in the NK4+ feed solution compared to 11 wt% for the CIA-based PIM. Commercial DNNS from three different suppliers was characterized titrimetrically and by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The extraction properties of PIMs containing commercial DNNS from different suppliers were compared. These properties differed in the case of the CTA-based membranes while no differences were observed when PVC was used as the base polymer. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.