Water Wettable Graphite through Nanotechnology and its Application in Refractories

Abstract

Nanocarbon-coated graphite with high resin and water wettability characteristics can expand the application of refractories and carbon-carbon composites in different fields. Flaky graphite was made water wettable by coating nanocarbon on the surface of graphite by using suitable surfactants and dispersants. The coated graphite characteristics were confirmed by XRD, FESEM and HRTEM, which show that nanocarbon is coated on the graphite and it has the same nature as natural graphite. This developed coated graphite has wide applications in refractory brick, castables and masses for application in the steel industry. MgO-C bricks with lower (3 mass-%) carbon content, with nanocarbon-coated grains and coated graphite, have led to better properties than normal higher (10 mass-%) graphite containing bricks. Uniform distribution of graphite in the matrix is possible by using this developed graphite.