（1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Xian University of Architecture and Technology, Xian 710055, China）（2. Shanxi Institute of Technology, Yangquan 045000, China）
Carbon containing refractories have been widely used in steel ladles, arc furnaces, basic converters, slide plates, and functional refractories for con-casting, benefiting from their high resistance to corrosion, slag penetration, and thermal shock. It is urgent to develop low-carbon refractories and ultra-low-carbon refractories in response to “low carbon economy” environment all over the world and the requirement to develop clean steel. However, decreasing the content of graphite flake in the traditional carbon containing refractories can decrease the toughness and deteriorate the thermal shock and slag corrosion resistance. Researchers have pointed out that nano carbons have shown their capability in decreasing the total carbon content while improving or maintaining the comprehensive properties. However, the application of nano carbons as carbon source is limited because of their high cost, poor dispersibility and vulnerable to oxidation. In the present work, the research progress of the influence of different types of nano carbons on the performance and potential problems of low carbon refractories is overviewed.