HNO3-modified activated carbon (AC) was prepared to determine its mercury removal ability on a fixed-bed reactor. In this study, the HNO3-modified AC was found to be effective for mercury removal in simulated flue gas. The original sample, the HNO3-modified sample and the production sample were characterized by elemental analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectra, Boehm titrations, temperature programmed desorption (TPD) technique, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results- show that HNO3 treatment increases the content of oxygen and nitrogen on the AC. Compared with the physical characteristics of HNO3-modified AC, the effects of its chemical characteristics on mercury removal are more significant. The Hg-0 is mainly oxidized to HgO by the HNO3-modified AC. The oxygen functional groups, possibly carbonyls, esters or anhydrides were found to be the adsorption sites for mercury removal, and these groups were reduced to hydroxyl groups or ether groups. The N-functional groups, possibly pyrrolic tautomers, were found to be the active catalytic sites. The mechanism for Hg-0 removal by HNO3-modified activated carbon is proposed based on the characterization results.