Utilizing porous polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers as the precursors, porous carbon fibers were obtained by cross-linking of precursor fibers with hydrazine hydrate and subsequent heat treatment. A nitrogen content of more than 14 wt % was achieved in the carbon fibers. The porous carbon fiber that was prepared at low concentration of hydrazine hydrate (5 wt %) showed an optimal BET surface area of 277.4 m 2 /g with micro-/meso-/macropores. The CO 2 adsorbed amount of this porous carbon fiber was 101 mg/g at 25 °C under atmospheric pressure, which was 2.1 times that of the fiber without cross-linking with hydrazine hydrate. In the simulated flue gas environment (10% CO 2 /90% N 2 ), the adsorption capacity of the above-mentioned porous fiber was 32 mg/g at 25 °C, which was 1.4 times that of the fiber without cross-linking. These CO 2 adsorption results demonstrated that the nitrogen functionalities and porous structure of the porous carbon fiber played an equivalent important role in the adsorption of CO 2 . The porous carbon fiber also owned an excellent CO 2 reusability, and 96% of the adsorption capacity was maintained after 20 cycles of CO 2 adsorption and desorption. The porous carbon fibers enriched with nitrogen could thus be a potential material for CO 2 capture.