A novel adsorbent, Ce(III)-impregnated crosslinked chitosan complex (Ce-CCS) was prepared by the methods of membrane-forming and crosslinking for the removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions. Ce-CCS was characterized by FTIR, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy combined with EDAX techniques. The adsorption of phosphate onto the Ce-CCS was determined in batch systems as a function of initial phosphate concentration, pH, contact time, and co-anions. The maximum adsorption occurred at pH 3 or so. The presence of co-anions decreased the adsorption of phosphate onto the Ce-CCS. Ce-CCS showed a higher adsorption capacity than crosslinked chitosan (CCS) due to the introduction of Ce(III). The equilibrious data by the Ce-CCS were fitted well with Freundlich isotherm model. The kinetic data followed the pseudo-second-order model. Phosphate adsorption mainly included the surface complexation and electrostatic attraction between Ce-CCS and phosphate. Besides, the Ce-CCS was prone to regeneration with 0.1 mol/L HCl solution. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:44-51, 2017. (c) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers