Chitosan was graft copolymerized with vinyl acetate using ceric ammonium nitrate as the initiator. The chitosan-g-poly(vinyl acetate) (chitosan-g-PVAc) membranes were found to be blood compatible, noncytotoxic, and biodegradable. The physicochemical characterization of the membranes revealed that the membranes possess the synergistic effect of the natural-synthetic hybrids of chitosan and PVAc with excellent mechanical stability and tunable hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristics. The permeation characteristics of chitosan-g-PVAc membranes for four different solutes creatinine, urea, glucose, and albumin was studied in vitro at 37 degrees C for assessment of the suitability of them as hemodialysis membranes. The studies showed that the membranes exhibit higher permeability to creatinine, urea, and glucose compared with the commercial cellulose membrane and are impermeable to the essential nutrient albumin. Hence, the need for the development of biocompatible, mechanically strong dialysis membranes could be addressed with the modification of chitosan through grafting with PVAc. Potential applications like artificial kidney, artificial pancreas, and so forth, are envisaged from these membranes. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012