We report the graft copolymerization of acrylic acid onto the polypropylene (PP) melt-blown non-wovens induced by electron beam (EB) preirradiation in this article. The occurrence of the graft copolymerization was confirmed by means of XPS, FTIR, and SEM. The effects of preirradiation dose, monomer concentration, bath ratio, reaction time, and temperature on the graft ratio were investigated. The water conservation, water absorption rate, and K+ exchange capacity were also determined on the grafted PP melt-blown nonwovens, which showed that EB preirradiation-induced grafting was an effective way to improve the hydrophicility of PP melt-blown nonwovens. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.