Phosphorous recovery from wastewater by nanofiltration (NF) is a feasible and sustainable approach, but challenges still exist in the development of highly efficient membranes for the selective permeation of phosphorus. Herein an interpenetrating network (IPN) of crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is integrated with Zn2+ moieties through coordination with the amino groups of crosslinked polyethyleneimine (PEI) and deposited on borate crosslinked polydopamine-grafted carbon nanotubes (B-PDA-CNT) intermediate layer incorporated into the microfiltration substrate to form the composite membrane. The positively charged membrane in acidic conditions affords good rejection (>85%) of heavy metals ions including Cd2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, and Ni2+. Meanwhile, a low phosphorus rejection of <15% is realized with the application of a relatively low transmembrane pressure. This presupposes that the developed approach achieves selective removal of heavy metals from a phosphate solution and is attractive for low pressure recovery of phosphorus. (c) 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 755-765, 2019