Carbon nanofibers with different nanostructures are prepared by catalytic CVD at 873 K using different catalysts and carboncontaining gases. As-grown carbon nanofibers are treated in concentrated nitric acid to introduce oxygen-containing groups, and therefore, to anchor palladium. The TPD-MS method is used to determine the number of acidic oxygen-containing groups and the results show that the number of oxygen-containing groups was strongly dependent on the graphitic platelet orientation. TEM, CO pulse chemisorption, and ICP-AES are used to characterize carbon nanofiber supported palladium catalysts. The results show that palladium particle sizes and palladium loading are dependent on the amounts of oxygen-containing groups on carbon nanofibers. TPR results show that the interaction between the palladium and the oxidized carbon nanofibers can be tailored by the variation of graphitic platelet orientation. A linear correlation between the amount of acidic groups and the palladium loading are observed.