In this work, polyacrylonitrile hollow fiber was oxidized, carbonized, and activated by carbon dioxide into activated hollow carbon fiber. The effects of the activation temperature on the characteristics of the resulting activated hollow carbon fiber, including the mechanical properties, the surface area, and pore size distribution, were studied. The results show that by activating for 40 min at 800 degrees C, the mechanical properties was better, the surface area was larger, and the pore size was distributed in three ranges. Higher activation temperature led to the decrease in the mechanical strength, the increase in the burn-off degree of the surface, the reduce of the portion of micropores, and the greatly broadening the pore size distribution. Lower activation temperature can only produce pleading on the surface of the fiber instead of open pores, due to the milder attack of CO2. Therefore, the characteristics of the activated hollow carbon fiber can be controlled by the activation temperature.