Polyester fabrics were preirradiated by electron beam in air and then grafted by acrylic acid (AA) without excluding oxygen. Effects of preirradiation dose, monomer concentration, reaction temperature, storage time, sulfuric acid, and Mohr's salt were investigated in detail and are discussed. The results suggest that it is practicable and effective to graft AA onto polyester fabrics by means of the preirradiation method. FTIR and SEM were used to characterize AA-grafted polyester fabrics. A new band appearing at 1546 cm(-1) in the FTIR spectrum implies that AA was indeed introduced onto PET macromolecules. Changes of the diameter and the surface structure of fabric fibers presented in SEM micrographs make it clear that a layer of grafted poly(acrylic acid) was formed on the surface of these PET fibers. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.