Abstract: Nitric acid with different concentrations(17%, 34%, and 68% respectively)was employed to modify the bamboo charcoal, and the iodine value, ash and water content of raw and modified bamboo charcoal samples were measured. Test results showed that the iodine value and ash content of three kinds of modified bamboo charcoal decreased slightly, while the water content of three kinds of modified bamboo charcoal samples increased sharply, the bamboo charcoal sample modified with 68% nitric acid has the most remarkable change of these above values. The Boehm titration,FTIR,BET,SEM-EDS and TG-DSC were used to characterize raw and modified bamboo charcoal samples. The results showed that the amount of different kinds of oxygen-containing groups increased on the surface of modified bamboo charcoal samples, while the carbon content decreased evidently,the surface of modified bamboo charcoal became more tough than the raw bamboo charcoal, and the slope of weight loss curves of modified bamboo charcoal were more successive and steeper than that of the raw bamboo charcoal,which showed that a great number of H₂O molecules and surface functional groups were formed on the surface of modified bamboo charcoal.