Superstructured carbon materials: design and energy applications

Carbon materials play a significant role as key components within devices for energy storage and conversion and most directly impact the device performance. Nowadays, the need for advanced carbon materials has grown more pressing with the rising demand for high-performance energy-conversion and -storage facilities. Nonetheless, realizing significant performance improvements across devices remains challenging, owing to the difficulties in controlling irregularly organized microstructures and the specific carbon structures concerned. The present review, with an aim of realizing devisable structures, adjustable functions, and performance breakthroughs, proposes the concept of superstructured carbons. In fact, superstructured carbons represent a category of carbon-based materials, characterized by precisely-built pores, networks, and interfaces. This unique category satisfies the particular functional demands of high-performance devices and surpasses the rigid structure of traditional carbons. In the context of these superstructured carbons, we present the methods of realizing both custom-built structures and target-oriented functionality. Towards specific energy-related reactions, we will emphasize the targeted property-structure relationships in these well-defined superstructured carbons. Finally, the future development and the practicability challenges of superstructured carbons are also proposed.