Chemical transformation of acrylic membranes with hydroxylamine hydrochloride (HA) was carried out to introduce amidoxime groups. It was found that the reaction conditions, such as reaction time, HA concentration and temperature influence the amidoxime content, significantly. A sharp enhancement in the amidoximation at 80 degrees C was observed. The FTIR studies showed a significant loss of nitrile groups during amidoximation process. Optimum conditions for the amidoximation process were investigated. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 121: 2705-2709, 2011