Three different structures of carbon materials, including carbon spheres, bamboo-like carbon nanotubes and straight carbon nanotubes, were obtained by pyrolysis of iron(II) phthalocyanine with different flow rates of H-2 at 1000 degrees C. The suitable mechanism for formation process of the carbon nanomaterials from spheres to straight nanotubes was suggested. The competing processes between the catalyst forward and the shell growth have been used to explain the formation mechanism of three materials. The controllable synthesis of carbon materials was achieved only by changing the H-2 flow rates, and it is important to explore applications of carbon materials with different shapes. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.