Abstract <p>The aim of this study was to improve the performance of titanium nitride in carbon containing refractory materials. TiN-graphitized carbon black composite powders were synthesized at carbon embedded conditions by carbothermal reduction method using anatase TiO₂ and carbon black as the raw materials, nano NiO as a catalyst and Carbores P as a binder. The effects of heat treatment temperature and nano NiO content on the graphitization level of the composite powders were investigated. The results show that TiO₂ initially transformed into TiN at 1300°C and completely at 1400°C. Further increasing the temperature to 1500–1600°C resulted in the formation of Ti(C_0.3,N_0.7). Additionally, nano NiO was reduced to elemental nickel, which facilitated the adsorption and precipitation of carbon hydrogen gases derived from the pyrolysis of Carbores P, leading to the growth of carbon fibers and enhancing the graphitization level of the composite powders. In this experiment, the optimal heat treatment temperature was determined to be 1400°C and an optimal addition of nano NiO at 3.5 wt&#xa0;% relative to the amount of Carbores P added.</p>