Abstract: Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were prepared from coal by the arc discharge method with iron, nickel or a mixture of nickel and lanthanum as catalyst.The SWCNTs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy.The results showed that the purity of SWCNTs derived from coal was quite good, of which the diameters were closely related to the catalysts used, which was around 1.2—2.2 nm for iron catalyst; while in the case of nickel and La-Ni mixture catalysts, the diameters of the as-grown SWNTs were similar and in a range of 1.26—1.50 nm.Trace amounts of other elements such as Al, Si, Ca and K were found in the SWCNTs, which were believed to be from mineral matter in the raw coal.