This paper presents the results of a study on the influence of tungsten as a structure promoter in the carbothermal reduction of silica. The morphology and surface structure of the obtained materials were analyzed using XRD, SEM-EDS, TEM and FTIR techniques. Surface area and porosity were evaluated on the basis of low temperature adsorption of nitrogen. The WC-W2c-beta-sic nanostructured composite material formed from the carbothermal reduction of SiO2 promoted with tungsten had a larger surface area (25.8m(2) g(-1)) in comparison to that measured for a beta-sic sample obtained by the simple carbothermal reduction of silica. Based on the results of this research, tungsten promoted carbothermal reduction of silica appears as a relatively simple procedure for obtaining valuable materials with a sufficiently high surface area to be used in catalysis. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.