Carbon foams: 3D porous carbon materials holding immense potential

Carbon foam is a representative of porous-structured carbon material. It has attracted increasing attention from academic communities and industry because of its unique 3D porous structure and excellent performance, such as low density with high mechanical strength, high electrical conductivity, tailorable thermal conductivities, high adsorption, electromagnetic shielding, ablation resistance, and large surface area. Tremendous achievements have been made on its synthesis and applications in the past years. However, little efforts have been devoted to providing a comprehensive review of the recent progress. In the present review, the typical microstructure of carbon foam was firstly illustrated, which included the open-cell structure and closed-cell structure. Secondly, its advances in synthesis approaches were summarized, according to the utilized precursors involving polymer, pitches, and biomass materials. Thirdly, the promising applications (e.g., thermal management, adsorption, energy storage, electromagnetic shielding, catalyst support, and sensors) was comprehensively reviewed. Among them, its applications for energy storage was systematically introduced, since this application was extensively developed in recent years. Especially, the strategies for controlling its properties were mentioned. Lastly, some critical issues and challenges that need to be tackled were discussed, like precise fabrication and scaling up production, etc. Besides, the research prospects of carbon foam were proposed.