Experiments were conducted to investigate the separation of cadmium(II) from spent nickel/cadmium battery by emulsion liquid membrane. Liquid membrane mainly consisted of a diluent (kerosene), a surfactant (Span 80), a carrier (di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid, D2EHPA) and an internal phase (sulfuric acid). Main research effort was focused on the identification of optimal parameters affecting the separation process, such as D2EHPA (4.4 vol%), Span 80 (6.6 vol%), pH in the external phase (3.0), treat ratio (0.4), agitation time (10 min), and sulfuric acid concentration (1500 mol/m(3)). With the selected emulsion liquid membrane to separate cadmium(II) from the leaching solution of spent nickel/cadmium battery, the fraction extracted of cadmium(II) ions (0.963) was much more than that of nickel(II) ions (0.026). The organic membrane phase after demulsification was re-mulsification and recycled up to eight times.