Unsupported catalysts show great promise for the production of nanocarbon material. This study aims to investigate the formation of carbon nanofibres from the pyrolysis of acetylene using a non-porous mesh as a catalyst Our results showed that temperature and total gas flow rate have significant effects on the formation of carbon nanofibres on the non-porous Ni mesh catalyst. Opposite effects of gas flow rate on the yield of carbon on Ni mesh surface were observed for the pyrolysis of acetylene at low (620 degrees C) and high (750 degrees C) temperature. Analysis of carbon nanofibres using scanning electron microscopy, FT-Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis showed that the structural ordering in the produced carbon changed with the yield of carbon. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.