Electron beam and gamma-ray irradiation have potential application to modify the carbon fiber nanostructures in order to produce useful defects in the graphitic structure and create reactive sites. In this study, the methodology to functionalize carbon nanofiber (CNF), via a radiation process and using acrylic acid as a source of oxygen functional groups, was investigated. The samples were submitted to a direct grafting radiation process with electron beam and gamma-ray source. Several parameters were changed such as: acrylic acid concentration, radiation dose and percentage of inhibitor necessary to achieve functionalization, with higher percentage of oxygen functional groups on CNF surface, and better dispersion. The better results achieved were when mixing CNF in a solution of acrylic acid with 6% of inhibitor (FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O) and irradiated at 100 kGy. The samples were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the surface composition (atomic%) showed a significant increase of oxygen content for the samples after irradiation. Also, the dispersion of the functionalized CNF in water was stable during months which may be a good indication that the functionalization process of CNF via ionizing radiation was successful. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.