Abstract: Carbon nanostructures,which can be obtained from chemical products,wood,and coal,play an increasingly important role in modern industry. Being abundant in coal resource,it is important for China to develop coal-based carbon nanomaterials preparation technology. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are two typical carbon nanomaterials. Their structural features,potential application areas,and coal-based preparation technologies were reviewed in this paper,and the work may provide some theoretic reference to improving coal utilization.