Activated carbon fiber (ACF) was surface modified by nitric acid to improve the adsorption efficiency of the propylamine. Functional groups and textural properties of modified ACF were investigated. The total surface acidity increased about 7 times to that of as-received ACF by modification with 1 M nitric acid solution, carboxylic and phenolic groups mainly increased. However, the specific surface areas and the total pore volumes of the modified ACFs were decreased by 5-8% due to the increased blocking (or demolition) of micropores in the presence of newly introduced complexes. Despite the decrease of textural properties, it was found that the amount of propylamine adsorbed by the modified ACFs was increased by approximately 17%. The oxygen and nitrogen contents on the modified ACF increased by 1.5 and 3 times compared with the as-received ACF. From the XPS results, it was observed that propylamine reacted with strong or weak acidic groups, such as -COOH or -OH on the ACF surfaces, resulting in the formation of pyrrolic-, pyridonic- or pyridine-like structures.