decoding encodeURIComponent()

I am using encodeURIComponent() in my javascript program before I send over an email address to the server.

the email is arriving at the CI program as this and I tried using entity_decode 
$email_key = entity_decode($json2->email,"@");

When the email arrives at the CI controller it is now "bandfrombossanova%40gmail.com.
But my attempt to decode it in CI is causing an issue. Is entity_decode the proper way to get back the email ([email protected])?  

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