The effect of carbon nanotube treatment on the mechanical property of polyethylene/carbon nanotube composite (HDPE/CNT) was investigated. CNTs were initially treated with HCl and then with H2SO4/HNO3. Nanocomposites reinforced with untreated and treated CNTs were prepared by a mechanical mixture of the molten polymer. The results demonstrated a correlation among the surface treatment, dispersion and mechanical properties of HDPE/CNT composites. Raman spectroscopy and TGA analysis showed that both acid treatments removed efficiently amorphous carbon and residual metal catalysts of CNTs. However, these treatments not only removed impurities, they also decreased the crystallinity degree of CNTs due to the addition of oxygenated functional groups to the CNTs walls, as observed by XPS analysis. SEM micrographs revealed that the functional groups improved the CNTs dispersion in the polymeric matrix, resulting in an improvement of the mechanical properties of nanocomposites. (C)2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.