Carbon dissolution from four types of metallurgical cokes and graphite was investigated by using immersion rods in a resistance furnace to clarify the influence of factors governing the rate of carbon dissolution from carbonaceous materials into Fe-Mn melts at 1550 ℃.The factors studied were the microstructure of carbonaceous materials,roughness,porosity and the wettability between carbonaceous materials and the melt.Carbon/metal interface was characterised by scanning electron microscopy accompanied with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry to investigate the formation of an ash layer.The results showed that coke E had the highest dissolution rate.Surface roughness and porosity of the carbonaceous materials seemed to be dominant factors affecting the dissolution rates.Further,crystallite size did not have a significant effect on the dissolution rates.Solid/liquid wettability seemed to affect the initial stage of dissolution reaction.The dissolution mechanism was found to be both mass transfer and interfacial reactions.