Polyacrylamide grafted crosslinked poly (vinyl chloride) beads (PAM-PVC) were prepared by the surface-initiated controlled/"living" radical polymerization (SI-CLRP) methodology from the crosslinked poly(vinyl chloride) beads with surface modification with diethyldithiocarbamyl groups under UV irradiation. The macroiniferter, diethyldithiocarbamyl crosslinked poly(vinyl chloride) beads (DEDTC-PVC) were prepared by the reaction of the surface C-Cl groups with sodium N,N-diethyl dithiocarbamate. The "grafting from" polymerization exhibited some "living" polymerization characteristics and the percentage of grafting (PG%) increased linearly with polymerizing time and achieved 47.6% after 6 h UV irradiation. The beaded polymer with polyacrylamide surface was also characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Its adsorption property for Hg(II) ion was also investigated preliminarily. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.