The effect of surface chemistry and rugosity on the interfacial adhesion between Bisphenol-A Polycarbonate and a carbon fiber surface subjected to surface treatment to add surface oxygen groups was investigated. The surface oxygen content of PAN based intermediate modulus IM7 carbon fibers was varied by an oxidative surface treatment. The oxygen content of the carbon fiber surface increased from 4 to 22% by changing the degree of surface treatment from 0 to 400% of nominal commercial surface treatment levels. The oxidative surface treatment also causes an increase in surface roughness by creating pores and fissures in the surface by removing carbon from the regions between the graphite crystallites. To decouple the effects of surface roughness and the surface oxides on the interfacial adhesion, the oxidized fiber surface was passivated via hydrogenation at elevated temperature. Thermal hydrogenation removes the oxides on the surface without significantly altering the surface topography. The results of interfacial adhesion tests indicate that an increase in the oxygen content of the fiber does not increase the fiber-matrix interfacial adhesion significantly. Comparing adhesion results between oxidized and hydrogen passivated fibers shows that the effect of the surface roughness on the interfacial adhesion is also insignificant. Overall, dispersive interactions alone appear to be the primary factor in adhesion of carbon fibers to thermoplastic matrices in composites.