Excessive phosphate content input into natural water can lead to the waste of resource and eutrophication. Biochar is a kind of low-cost adsorbents. However, its adsorption capacity for phosphate is low. In order to solve this problem, Fe compounds modi ed y ash/cotton stalk biochar composites (Fe-FBC) were prepared through co-pyrolyzed y ash and cotton stalk at 800 o C, followed by in ltration of FeSO 4 solution. The samples were characterized by Scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and zeta potential. After modi cation, the hydrophilicity and polarity of Fe-FBC increased. In addition, the pore volume, speci c surface area, and surface functional groups were signi cantly improved. The adsorption process of Fe-FBC for phosphate in water can be well tted by the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Sips isotherm adsorption model, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 47.91 mg/g. Fe-FBC maintained a high adsorption capacity in the pH range of 3-10. The coexisting anions (NO 3 -, SO 4 2-, and Cl -) had negligible effects on phosphate adsorption. The adsorption mechanisms of Fe-FBC include electrostatic attraction, ligand exchange, surface complexation, ion exchange, chemical precipitation and hydrogen bonding. Moreover, the desorption dynamic process of phosphate was investigated, indicating that the phosphate-saturated Fe-FBC could use as slow-release phosphate fertilizer. This study proposed a potentially environmental protection and recycling economy approach, which consists of recycling resources and treating wastes with wastes.