The influence of temperature on synthesizing single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) by catalytic chemical vapor deposition of methane over Mo-Co-MgO catalyst was studied by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Raman scattering. The Mo-Co-MgO bimetallic catalyst was prepared by decomposing the mixture of magnesium nitrate, ammonium molybdate, citric acid, and cobalt nitrate. The results show that Mo-Co-MgO bimetallic catalyst is effective to synthesize SWCNTs. By using Mo-Co-MgO bimetallic catalyst, generation of SWCNTs even at 940 K was demonstrated, The optimum temperature of synthesizing SWCNTs over Mo-Co-MgO bimetallic catalyst may be about 1123 K. At 1123 K, the diameters of SWCNTs are in the range of 0.75-1.65 nm. The content of SWCNTs is increased with the increase of temperature below 1123 K and the carbon yield rate is also increased with the increase of synthesis temperature. Therefore, the amount of SWCNTs increases with the increase of temperature below 1123 K. However, above 1123 K, the content of SWCNTs is decreased with the increase of temperature; therefore, it is not effective to increase the amount of SWCNTs through increasing synthesis temperature above 1123 K. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.