Emulsion-derived porous carbon-based materials for energy and environmental applications

Porous carbons have spurred tremendous interest as cutting-edge materials for diverse energy and environmental applications. To this end, hard and soft templating routes have developed various porous carbon-based materials with uniform and ordered porosities. Notwithstanding, the pores of carbons obtained via most of these preparation methods are vulnerable to blockage because their tunability is limited only to the micro-mesoscale size regime. This problem, in turn, makes the inner parts of such porous carbons inaccessible to the reactive species, thus hampering their community-scale adoption. To surmount this daunting challenge, emulsion-based approaches (i.e., emulsion polymerization, emulsion templating, and emulsion freeze drying) have turned out to be intriguing to endow the derived carbons with hierarchically-organized pores spanning over multiple-scale, large Vp, and multidimensional transport pathways of particular interest. These attributes of such porous carbon materials have unfolded many prospects for broad-spectrum applications. This article systematically summarizes the synthetic progress of the emulsion-derived porous carbon-based NSs, particles, spheres, and monoliths. The applications section showcases their performance in energy storage (LIBs, LSBs, LOBs, ZABs, and electrodes for supercapacitors) and environmental remediation (CO2 capture, dye adsorption, herbicide separation, and oil/organic solvent removal). Despite significant advancement, plenty of room is available to develop more promising new emulsion-derived porous carbons. Nonetheless, there is still a long way to go before materializing the dream of industrial-scale energy and environmental applications of such emulsion-derived porous carbons. [Display omitted] •Emulsion strategies appear exclusive to derive carbons having hierarchical pores.•Micro-/mesopores account for high surface areas with a more significant number of reaction sites.•Macropores expedite easier electron and mass infiltration and transport.•Emulsion-driven porous carbons display ample potential in batteries and supercapacitors.•Such materials are well-suited for many environmental applications.