A novel hierarchical reinforcing carbon fiber through co-grafting carbon nanotube (CNTs) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) was prepared in this paper. The structure and surface characteristics of the grafted carbon fiber were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetry (TG) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. The surface energy and the functional groups of the carbon fiber surface were increased obviously after modification. The ILSS results showed that there was a remarkable improvement in the interfacial properties of the new hybrid CF-CNTs-POSS composites. The investigation can prove an effective way to increase the interfacial adhesion and improve the mechanical performance of the fiber/resin composites on the desired application. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.