The most commonly applied methods for the treatment of used adsorbents is to recover them in acid/alkaline medium or direct enflame them. This work dealt with a new potential and economic method to utilize a waste adsorbent. Poly(AAc/AM/SH) superabsorbent hydrogels have proved to be a good adsorbent for Cu2+ ions and after adsorption the hydrogels were recovered in acid medium. In this report, the Cu2+ ion adsorbed hydrogel has not undergone any regeneration process and applied directly to phosphate ion adsorption. The Cu2+ ions-loaded poly(AAc/AM/SH) hydrogels, were stable within a wide pH range and suitable for phosphate ion adsorption. The factors affecting the phosphate adsorption, such as pH, ionic strength, contact time, temperature, initial concentration of the phosphate ion, and coexisting ions were systematically investigated. The phosphate adsorption was highly pH dependent; and the maximum adsorption of 87.62 mg/g was achieved at pH 6.1. The adsorption data fitted the Langmuir adsorption isotherm better than the Freundlich isotherm. The concomitant anions show profounder adverse influence on phosphate ion adsorption of poly(AAc/AM/SH)-Cu hydrogel and the effect follows the order citrate > sulfate > bicarbonate > chloride > nitrate. The thermodynamic parameters including H degrees, G degrees, and S degrees for the adsorption processes of phosphate ions on the gel were also evaluated, and the negative G degrees and H degrees confirmed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic. The adsorption kinetic results suggest that the adsorption process was well described by the pseudo second-order kinetic model. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013