New water-soluble grafted polysaccharides containing sulfobetaine groups were synthesized by the grafting of the sulfobetaine-type zwitterionic monomer 3-dimethyl-(methacryloyloxyethyl)ammonium propane sulfonate (DMAPS) onto hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) in the presence of a ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN)/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) initiation system. The effects of the concentrations of CAN, EDTA, DMAPS, and HEC, as well as the polymerization time and temperature, on the grafting reactions were investigated in terms of the grafting percentage (%GP) and grafting conversion (%GC) of the monomer. The %GP and %GC increased and then decreased with increasing concentrations of CAN, EDTA, and HEC. The %GP and %GC increased with increasing DMAPS concentration up to a certain value, beyond which the %GP did not significantly increase and the %GC decreased. The appropriate polymerization time and temperature were favorable for the grafting reactions. With infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, and viscosity measurements, the resulting grafted polysaccharides were characterized.