Carbon coated silica nanowire hybrid structures were directly synthesized by a chemical vapor deposition method using ethanol as the precursor. The morphology and structural properties of the nanostructures were investigated. It was found that, in the sample prepared at a relative lower temperature (1185 degrees C). the carbon shell was composed of orderly graphitic layers, whereas the carbon shell on those fabricated at higher temperature (1236 degrees C) was amorphous. Moreover, the thickness of the amorphous carbon shell increased with increasing reaction temperature and reaction time. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.