Graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) onto polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) nonwoven initiated by low temperature plasma was studied. The effects of various conditions on graft reaction and the grafting rate were investigated. SEM images showed that PPS nonwoven was grafted, and the graft copolymerization only occurred on the surface of PPS. It may be due to the chain transference going with the graft copolymerization. It was found that with the increasing of plasma power, treatment time, space between electrodes, monomer concentration, and temperature of graft polymerization, the grafting rate increased at first, went to the top, and then decreased. The PPS non-woven surface graft reaction could be optimized by the following processing conditions: 120 s of plasma treatment time, 50 W of plasma power, 1.5 cm of space between electrodes, 30% (w/w) of monomer concentration, and 50 degrees C of temperature of graft polymerization. Measurement of XPS showed that the peak of Cls of graft polyacrylic acid was existed, and the peak area increased with the increase of the grafting rate. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.