In this study, we performed surface modification of biodegradable microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) to use as a filler in polyethylene (PE) composite in food packaging application. We modified MCC surface with (3-trimethoxysilylpropyl) diethylenetriamine (TPDT) silane coupling agent, which has one primary amino group and two secondary amino groups per molecule, to introduce amino groups with a carbon dioxide adsorption capability in MCC. Effects of each of the reaction conditions such as amount of TPDT introduced, swelling time, reaction temperature, and reaction time on surface modification degree of MCC were investigated by changing a variety of above reaction conditions. The amount of TPDT grafted on MCC surface and formation of chemical bonds were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis (EA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and solid state 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We confirmed increase of grafted amount of TPDT on MCC with increasing reaction time, reaction temperature, and amount of introduced TPDT.