PIMs have been involved as affinity membranes for recovery of metals (Cd, Pb, Zn) by facilitated transport from aqueous solutions under different speciation forms, either anionic or cationic. The motivation of this work is to compare the efficiency of the recovery process in the case of Cd(II) using extractants such as D2EHPA and Aliquat 336 that can form complexes with the cation Cd2+ or the anions CdCl3- and CdCl42-, respectively. The maximal Cd(II) recovery factors obtained in 8 h are 97.5 % and 91.8% with D2EHPA and Aliquat 336, respectively. Although the transport fluxes with both carriers are not strongly different (ca. 2 mu mol m(-2) s(-1)), the recovery process in case of mixture of metals is better achieved with Aliquat 336. PIMs have shown a very good stability and a constancy of the transmembrane transport flux over 12 replicate measurements, each one lasting for 8 h repeated every 24 h. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.