Carbon-containing refractory bricks (CCRBs) are one of the most important materials for the iron and steel industry worldwide. One modern steel-making company alone needs to spend over £200M/annum on refractories of which 70-80% are CCRBs. However, current commercial CCRBs contain high level of carbon (>25%C), causing several serious problems, including great heat loss, temperature drop of the molten steel, deformation of steel shells of steelmaking furnaces, nozzle clogging, carbon pickup, emission of green house gases and unnecessary use of excessive amounts of expensive graphite. To overcome these problems, the carbon content in CCRBs has to be reduced to an appropriately low level (ideally <3%C), i.e., the so-called low carbon carbon-containing refractories (LCCRs) have to be developed. In this programme, a simple, straightforward yet novel concept was put forward to develop LCCRs. Based on the proposed technique, the effective surface area of graphitic carbon to cover the oxide grains could be exponentially increased. Consequently, the carbon content could be substantially reduced without compromising properties and performance of the refractory. This programme, in addition to its academic significance, will greatly benefit many important industries, in particular the refractory and steel industries by providing high quality "greener" refractory materials at lower-cost.

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Carbon-containing refractory bricks (CCRBs) are one of the most important materials for the iron and steel industry worldwide, e.g. Corus alone spends over 200M/annum on refractories of which 70-80% are carbon-containing refractories. However, their two critical drawbacks, poor oxidation resistance and poor mechanical properties (low mechanical strength and poor erosion resistance), significantly reduce their service life in many applications. Whilst the poor oxidation resistance can now be improved via additions of antioxidants and/or formation of refractory coatings on graphite, the issue of poor mechanical properties has yet to be solved. In this programme, based upon the applicants' extensive experience in R & D of refractories and expertise on nanofibre/tube fabrication, the design and development of a novel and commercially-viable catalytic-growth technique is proposed that can create large quantities of in-situ carbon nanotubes in CCRBs, aiming to improve substantially their mechanical strength and erosion resistance (by >50%) and service durability (by >25%). This programme, in addition to its academic significance for in-situ nanostructure design, will undoubtbly benefit the refractory and steel industries by providing high quality refractory materials at low-cost.

Carbon-containing refractory bricks (CCRBs) are one of the most important materials for the iron and steel industry worldwide, e.g. Corus alone spends over 200M/annum on refractories of which 70-80% are carbon-containing refractories. However, their two critical drawbacks, poor oxidation resistance and poor mechanical properties (low mechanical strength and poor erosion resistance), significantly reduce their service life in many applications. Whilst the poor oxidation resistance can now be improved via additions of antioxidants and/or formation of refractory coatings on graphite, the issue of poor mechanical properties has yet to be solved. In this programme, based upon the applicants' extensive experience in R & D of refractories and expertise on nanofibre/tube fabrication, the design and development of a novel and commercially-viable catalytic-growth technique is proposed that can create large quantities of in-situ carbon nanotubes in CCRBs, aiming to improve substantially their mechanical strength and erosion resistance (by >50%) and service durability (by >25%). This programme, in addition to its academic significance for in-situ nanostructure design, will undoubtbly benefit the refractory and steel industries by providing high quality refractory materials at low-cost.