Using silver-carbon ambient sparks, hollow carbon nanospheres or multiwall carbon nanotubes were produced separately from carbon encapsulated silver nanoparticles ͑−1 , 400 K s −1 ͒ during relatively slow ͑−800 K s −1 ͒ or fast ͑−2 , 900 K s −1 ͒ cooling process. Different cooling processes ͑i.e., different exposures within high temperature͒ caused the formation of different carbon precipitates in the process of silver mediated graphitization: for −2 , 900 K s −1 and Ͻ−1 , 400 K s −1 , respectively, obtained tubelike and sphere ͑encapsulated and hollow͒-like carbonaceous nanostructures.