Carbon nanofibers/carbon foam composites that are made by growing carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on the surface of a carbon foam (CF) have been prepared from coal liquefaction residues (CLR) by a procedure involving supercritical foaming, oxidization, carbonization, and catalytic chemical vapour deposition (CCVD) treatment. These new carbon/carbon composites were examined using SEM, TEM and XRD. The results show that the as-made CF has a structure with cell sizes of 300-600 mu m. X-ray diffraction studies show that iron-containing contaminates are present in the CLR. However, these species may act as a catalyst in the CCVD process as established in the literature. After the CCVD treatment, the cell walls of CF are covered by highly compacted CNFs that have external diameters of about 100 nm and lengths of several tens of micrometers. This work may open a new way for direct and effective utilization of the CLR. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.