Dense and porous nanostructured carbon particles were successfully synthesized via spray pyrolysis of phenblic resin and polystyrene latex. An approach to estimate the size and size-distribution of the synthesized carbon particles is presented here. The size of dense carbon particles was found to be mainly determined by the concentration of phenolic resin in the precursor. Meanwhile, the size and morphology of porous carbon particles were found to be affected by the concentration of the polystyrene latex particles used as the template. A residual ratio was introduced as a variable to represent the shrinkage due to phenolic resin decomposition. New correlations were developed that permit estimation of the mean diameter and size-distribution of the synthesized carbon particles from the phenolic resin concentration. Good agreement was observed between predicted values and experimental results. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.