Ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) in the presence of nitric acid has been used as efficient initiator for graft copolymerization of the ethyl acrylate onto cellulose at 35.0 +/- 0.1 degreesC. Graft copolymerization of ethyl acrylate onto cellulose has taken place through the radical initiation process. The graft yield and other grafting parameters have been evaluated by varying concentration of ethyl acrylate from 2.5 x 10(-1) to 15.0 x 10(-1) mol dm(-3) and ceric ammonium nitrate from 5.0 x 10(-3) to 25.0 x 10(-3) mol dm(-3) at constant concentration of the nitric acid (8.0 x 10(-2) Mol dm(-3)). The rate of graft copolymerization has shown 1.5 order with respect to the concentration of the ceric ammonium nitrate. The graft copolymerization data obtained at different temperatures were used to calculate the energy of activation, which has been found to be 28.9 kJ mol(-1) within the temperature range from 20 to 50 degreesC. The effect of addition of cationic and anionic surfactants on graft copolymerization has also been studied. On the basis of the experimental observations, reaction steps have been proposed and a suitable rate expression for graft copolymerization has been derived.