Well-aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with high purity have been produced by pyrolysis of iron(II) phthalocyanine and acetylene at 800 degreesC. The synthesized CNTs have a length of 75 mum and diameters ranging from 20 to 60 nm. The CNTs have a bamboo-like structure and exhibit good crystallinity of graphite sheets. The growth rate of the CNTs was rapidly increased with adding C2H2. Our results demonstrate that the proposed growth method is suitable to large-scale synthesis of high-purity well-aligned CNTs on various substrates. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.