The nitric acid-functionalized commercial carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were comprehensively studied by instrumental (XRD, BET, SEM, TGA) and theoretical (DFT calculations) methods. The detailed surface study revealed the variation in the characteristics of functionalized CNFs, such as a decreased (up to 34%) surface area and impacted structural, electronic and chemical properties. The effects of functional groups were studied by comparison with pristine nanofibers. The results showed that the C-C bond lengths of the modified CNFs varied significantly. Chemical functionalization altered the frontier orbitals of the pristine material, and therefore altered the nature of their interactions with other substances. Moreover, the pristine and modified CNFs were tested for the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions. It was observed that surface modification tuned the adsorption capacity of carbon nanofibers (up to 0.35 mmol g(-1)), whereas original fibers did not demonstrate any adsorption capacity of phenol. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.