Bamboo-like carbon nanotubes were synthesized by ethanol catalytic combustion (ECC) technique with combustion method. Copper plate was employed as substrate,ethanol as carbon source,and iron chloride as catalyst precursor. The as-grown black powder was characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the thinner bamboo-like carbon nanotubes have a relatively good structure that the compartment layers are more regular,while the thicker carbon nanotubes have a relatively irregular bamboo-like structure:the proposed method is simple to synthesize bamboo-like carbon nanotubes and has some advantages,such as flexible synthesis conditions,simple setup,and environment-friendly.