Graft copolymerization of ethyl acrylate (EA) onto water-soluble hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) was investigated with potassium persulfate (KPS) as initiator in an aqueous medium. The effects of monomer concentration, initiator concentration, matrix concentration, reaction temperature, reaction time and pre-interacting time in terms of percentage of grafting (G) and grafting efficiency (G E ) are discussed. The graft copolymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition, equilibrium humidity adsorption behavior of the pure grafted copolymers was also studied.