Abstract: In the context of energy crisis and continuous deterioration of ecological environment, the development of advanced energy storage technology has become the focus of competing research in global. Structural supercapacitor composites (SSC) with both energy storage and structural bearing capacity are developed by using multifunctional carbon fiber electrode and polymer electrolyte, which is expected to meet the dual demands of modern equipment for efficient energy storage and lightweight structures. Therefore, SSC has a wide application prospect in electric vehicles, aerospace and other fields. Carbon fiber electrode is a key component of SSC, which plays an important role in charge accumulation and mechanical loading. It should have high specific surface area, excellent mechanical properties and good wettability with polymer electrolyte. However, the pristine surface of carbon fiber is smooth and chemically inert, which is not conducive to ion storage and resin electrolyte infiltration in carbon fiber electrodes, and thus limits the preparation and application of high-performance SSC, so surface modification of carbon fiber electrode is necessary. This paper introduces the current research status of carbon fiber electrode materials for SSC, mainly focuses on several important surface modification methods of carbon fiber (such as chemical etching activation, modification with carbon-based active materials, modification with nano metal compounds and polyaniline modification), summarizes the influence of different carbon fiber electrode preparation methods on the energy storage and mechanical properties of SSC and the corresponding mechanisms, and their respective advantages and disadvantages. The challenges and development trend of carbon fiber electrode for SSC are also prospected.