A facile method for surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) on the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes has been developed. The AAO membrane was firstly functionalized by poly (dopamine), the bromoalkyl initiator was then immobilized on the poly(dopamine) functionalized AAO membrane surface in a two-step solid-phase reaction, followed by ATRP of acrylic acid in a aqueous solution. The poly (acrylic acid) (PAAc)-grafted AAO membranes were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The XPS and FTIR results indicated that PAAc was successfully grafted on the AAO membrane surface. The degree of grafting increases linearly with the increase of monomer concentration, and it reaches a plateau when the reaction time up to 4 h. The results indicate that the thickness of the grafted polymer inside the isocylindrical pores of AAO membranes could be well controlled by changing the reaction time and monomer concentration. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 117: 534-541, 2010