Recent Advances in Coal‐Based Functional Carbon Materials: From Raw Coal Macromolecules to Targeted Carbon Structures
Changyu Leng, Qian Li, Luxiang Wang, Nannan Guo, Mengjiao Xu, Qingtao Ma, Dianzeng Jia
Abstract
Abstract Coal, recognized for its high carbon content, is widely used as an ideal precursor for constructing various carbon materials. To address the growing demands of practical applications, achieving the controlled conversion of coals with complex compositions into advanced carbon materials with ordered structures is both essential and challenging. From a molecular perspective, coal is a natural macromolecular polymer consisting of a cross‐linked network of structurally analogous aromatic basic units interconnected by bridge bonds and non‐covalent interactions. Through molecular engineering strategies, coal macromolecules are regulated and depolymerized to enable the precise extraction of diverse aromatic units. These tailored units can be tuned as highly active building blocks and employed in the bottom‐up assembly of coal‐based functional carbon materials (CFCMs), offering vast potential for their structural design, preparation, and application. This review systematically summarizes the intrinsic characteristics of coal macromolecules, emerging molecular engineering methods, and structure–performance relationships of the derived carbon materials. Moreover, the structural correlations between coal macromolecules and carbon materials are discussed in depth, concluding with a comprehensive discussion of research challenges and future trends in CFCMs to advance the integrative development of coal chemistry and carbon science.