Graphitic carbon nanocoils with a high degree of crystallinity have been synthesized by using as intermediates hydrothermally carbonized samples (here denoted as hydrochar) obtained from three representative saccharides (glucose. sucrose and starch). The hydrochar samples were converted to graphitic nanocoils at moderate temperatures (900 degrees C) using nickel nanoparticles as a graphitization catalyst. The synthesis method involves two simple steps: (a) pyrolysis of the Ni impregnated samples at 900 degrees C and (b) liquid-phase oxidation to remove the metallic particles and the non-graphitized (amorphous) carbon. This synthesis scheme allows the fabrication of uniform nanostructures of graphitic nanocoils, with a high level of crystallinity as was demonstrated by different techniques (HRTEM, SAED, XRD and Raman spectroscopy). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.