The surface characteristic parameters of carbon black and diesel exhaust particulate matter (PM), such as specific surface area, pore and contact angle, were measured by automatic specific surface area and pore analyser and optical contact angle measuring instrument respectively. The fractal dimension and surface tension of carbon black and PM were calculated. The adsorption capacity of carbon black and PM was compared and analysed, and the relationship between surface characteristic parameters and adsorption capacity of PM was discussed. Via detection and analysis, for carbon and PM, the specific surface area is 78.003 and 65.408m²/g, and average pore size is 13.845 and 14.483nm, and fractal dimension is 2.5885 and 2.5515, and surface tension at 0.985s is 51.1and 56.6mJ/m², respectively. The results show that the specific surface area, pore size distribution, fractal dimension and surface tension of carbon black and diesel exhaust particles are similar. Both carbon black and PM show strong oil affinity and slight hydrophilicity. The PM have a slightly stronger hydrophilicity, a smoother surface and a slightly lower adsorption capacity than carbon black.