alpha-Allyl glucoside (AG) was incorporated into polyacrylonitrile by water-phase precipitation copolymerization (WPPCP) for the first time with K2S2O8-Na2SO3 as initiator system to improve the resistance properties of protein adsorption and cell adhesion for acrylonitrile-based polymer. The effects of initiator concentration, reaction time and temperature, and total monomer concentration on the copolymerization were studied, and some results were compared with those of solution copolymerization using AIBN as initiator. FT-IR, H-1 NMR, and C-13 NMR spectroscopes, element analysis, and DSC measurement were used to characterize the copolymers. It was found that both the yield and molecular weight for the WPPCP were higher than those for solution polymerization. The AG content in the resulting copolymers and the AG conversion for WPPCP were also higher than those of solution polymerization. The surface properties of the carbohydrate-containing copolymers were studied by pure water contact angle, protein adsorption, and cell adhesion measurements. It was found that the contact angle of the copolymer films decreased from 68degrees to 30degrees with the increase of AG content in the copolymer. The adsorption amount of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the adhesive number of macrophage on the film surface also decreased significantly with increasing alpha-allyl glucoside content from 0 to 42 wt % in the copolymer. These results revealed that both the hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of polyacrylonitrile-based membranes could be improved by copolymerization acrylonitrile with vinyl carbohydrates.