Low-rank coals are highly regarded as valuable precursors for carbon materials because of their ample reserves,high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,substantial carbon content and cost-effectiveness.Nevertheless,challenges in precisely manipulating the structure and characteristics of carbon materials derived from low-rank coals stem from the differences in ash content,microstructure,and interfaces across various low-rank coal sources.Recent research has provided strategies for governing the microstructure and surface attributes of carbon materials derived from low-rank coals.This review provides an overview of strategies for the preparation of adsorption active carbon,capacitive carbon,hard carbon,graphite and nano-carbon materials from low-rank coals.It also examines the influence of coal type and processing techniques on the microstructure,interface properties and functional group in them.The applications of coal-derived carbon materials in adsorption,supercapacitors,and alkali metal batteries are explored,and potential avenues for future research and its challenges are considered.
Low-rank coalCapacitive carbonHard carbonCoal based graphiteActivated carbon translation