Phenolic resin assisted exfoliation preparation of graphene nanosheets for low-carbon MgAl2O4-C refractories

The application of graphene nanosheets (GNs) in low-carbon refractories is hindered by their poor dispersibility and weak interfacial bonding with the matrix of the latter. In this work, we developed a phenolic resin (PF) assisted ball milling exfoliation strategy using flake graphite (FG) as the raw material to prepare a homogeneous GNs/PF slurry, this approach enables the in-situ exfoliation of FG into well-dispersed GNs. When incorporated into MgAl 2 O 4 -C refractories, the GNs/PF slurry significantly improved the homogeneous dispersion and interfacial bonding of the GNs with MgAl 2 O 4 . Compared to the control samples with and without FG, the counterpart containing GNs exhibited superior high-temperature performances, including an increase of up to 60 % in oxidation resistance, an 18.7 % improvement in thermal shock resistance, and a significant reduction in slag penetration depth from 1095 μm to 590 μm. This work establishes an economically feasible route for the large-scale production of high-performance GNs-reinforced low-carbon refractories.