Radical terpolymerization of donor-acceptor monomers, i.e. styrene (St), maleic anhydride (MA) and N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) were carried out in methyl ethyl ketone(MEK) under gamma-ray radiation at room temperature. Constants of copolymerization, complex formation, and some kinetic parameters for the monomer systems were studied by UV, H-1 NMR, Kelen-Tudos and Fineman-Ross methods, respectively. Obtained results show that terpolyrnerization proceeded mainly through 'complex' mechanisms in the state of near-binary copolymerization of St center dot center dot center dot MA and MA center dot center dot center dot NVP complexes. The homo-polymerization of St and NVP and the copolymerization between St and NVP could hardly be occurred. The possible reason is the effect of protection from radiation by styrene with its aryl-ring structure and/or the much larger reactivity of the complex copolymerization between the donor-acceptor monomers. The terpolymer self-assembles into micelles in aqueous solution. Polymeric micelles, composed of chains of St-MA and MA-NVP with equal molar ratio, displayed narrow size distribution of about 120 nm. The critical association concentration of micelles was determined to be around 3 mg/L. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.