Emulsion stabilization using ionic liquid [BMIM]+[NTf2]− and performance evaluation on the extraction of chromium

► Hydrophobic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [BMIM]+[NTf2]− was found to play the role of a stabilizer in emulsion liquid membrane. ► The stability of the emulsion liquid membrane could be enhanced by 70 times in terms of time by introducing [BMIM]+[NTf2]− in the emulsion liquid membrane as a stabilizer. ► The extraction of the chromium using the stabilized membrane was carried out for various concentration of stabilizer [BMIM]+[NTf2]−. ► Sedimentation rate of the two phases of the emulsion liquid membrane could be controlled by the concentration of [BMIM]+[NTf2]−. ► A non-linear correlation between stabilized time as a function of concentration of stabilizer and initial rate of sedimentation height is found to be in good agreement with experimental data.