In this paper, a novel hydrophobic modified cationic polyacrylamide flocculant P(AM⁃DAC⁃APG) was successfully synthesized by copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) as the main monomer, acryloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DAC) as the cationic monomer and alkyl glycoside (APG) as the hydrophobic monomer, initiated by low⁃pressure ultraviolet light. FTIR, SEM and 1H⁃NMR were used to observe and analyze its chemical structure and surface morphology. The effects of other factors such as total monomer concentration and initiator concentration on the polymerization were studied. Optimum polymerization conditions were confirmed as total monomer concentration of 35.0%, initiator concentration of 0.2%, illumination time of 90 min, m（AM）/m（DAC）of 3, hydrophobic monomer concentration of 2.0%, urea concentration of 3.0%. The novel hydrophobic modified polyacrylamide flocculant with intrinsic viscosity and cationic charge density of 1 384.8 mL/g and 5.091 mmol/g was obtained under these conditions.