Aligned bamboo-shaped carbon-nitrogen nanotubes have been massively produced by the pyrolysis of iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)(5)) and acetylene (C2H2) mixtures with ammonia (NH3) being the source of nitrogen. With nitrogen doping, the nanotubes have a bamboo-like structure and reveal degraded crystallinity of graphite sheets. Nitrogen plays a key role in generating compartment layers inside the nanotube. A base-growth model is adequate to explain the carbon-nitrogen nanotube growth. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.