Well-aligned carbon nanotubes with controllable properties were grown on porous silicon substrates by thermal chemical vapor deposition. The morphologies of the carbon nanotubes were varied with the introduction of H2 during the catalyst activation and/or carbon nanotube growth processes. It was found that H2 promotes the growth of carbon nanotubes while preventing the formation of spherical amorphous carbon particles. Without the introduction of H2 during the C2H2 thermal decomposition, alig...