Removal and recovery of phosphate ions from aqueous solutions by amine functionalized epichlorohydrin-grafted cellulose

► Cellulose-grafted epichlorohydrin/polyethylenimine copolymer was synthesized. ► Adsorbent was characterized using TGA/DTG, XRD, FTIR and SEM-EDS analyses. ► Adsorbent was used for the removal/recovery of phosphate ions from aqueous media. ► Pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models described the mechanism. ► Six cycles of Adsorption/Desorption experiments proved the adsorbent stability.