Novel Carbon-Containing Refractories Reinforced By In-situ Carbon Nanotubes

含碳耐火砖(CCRBs)是世界范围内钢铁工业最重要的材料之一，仅Corus每年在耐火材料上的花费就超过200米，其中70-80%是含碳耐火材料。然而，它们的两个关键缺点，即抗氧化性差和机械性能差(机械强度低和耐腐蚀性差)，在许多应用中大大缩短了它们的使用寿命。虽然现在可以通过添加抗氧化剂和/或在石墨上形成耐火涂层来改善较差的抗氧化性，但机械性能较差的问题尚未解决。在这项计划中，基于申请者在耐火材料研发方面的丰富经验和纳米纤维/管制造方面的专业知识，提出了一种新的、商业上可行的催化生长技术，该技术可以在CCRB中产生大量原位碳纳米管，旨在显著提高其机械强度和耐腐蚀性(提高50%)和服务耐久性(提高25%)。该计划除了对原位纳米结构设计具有学术意义外，还将通过以低成本提供高质量的耐火材料，无疑将使耐火材料和钢铁行业受益。

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.