To prepare super water absorbent hydrogels of wood cellulose fibers, poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) was copolymerized onto softwood sulfite pulp fibers using free radical initiator followed by alkaline hydrolysis. Ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) was used as the free radical initiator. Effects of various parameters such as fiber concentration, monomer/pulp (M/pulp) ratio, CAN concentration, and reaction time on the grafting yield and on other grafting parameters were investigated. The graft conversion was the same from low to medium fiber concentration. The amount of initiator required was found to be independent of fiber concentration to achieve maximum grafting yield. Different fiber fractions (classified based on their length) have no effect on the grafting yield. The evidence of graft copolymerization was determined by using ATR-IR spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that grafting takes place both in amorphous and crystalline regions of cellulose fibers and the decrease in crystallinity of the grafted fibers with an Increase in grafting yield was confirmed. The surface morphology of the PMA-g-cellulose was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The water retention value of the hydrolyzed grafted pulp was determined based on a centrifugation technique. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.