Sustainably Engineered Porous Carbons: Synthesis, Structure, and Applications

Porous carbon materials occupy a central position in modern materials science due to their exceptional structural tunability, large surface area, excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, and remarkable chemical stability. In recent years, sustainability has become a defining principle in their design and production—from the use of renewable precursors and green synthesis routes to their integration in technologies that address pressing global challenges in energy, environment, and health. The concept of sustainably engineered porous carbons encompasses the entire lifecycle of these materials: responsible sourcing, low-impact synthesis, efficient performance, and recyclability or safe end-of-life disposal. These materials can be derived from diverse natural or waste-based resources and can be precisely tailored at the molecular and morphological levels to exhibit hierarchical porosity, surface heteroatom functionality, and unique electronic properties.

This Research Topic aims to bring together interdisciplinary studies—experimental, theoretical, and computational—that explore the synthesis, structure, properties, and applications of porous carbons designed with sustainability principles. Contributions that bridge materials chemistry, process engineering, environmental science, and device technology are particularly encouraged.

We welcome submissions covering all aspects of sustainably engineered porous carbons, including but not limited to:

• Sustainable synthesis and processing: biomass- and waste-derived precursors, deep eutectic and ionic liquid systems, low-temperature activation, templating, and scalable green production routes.
• Structural design and characterization: micro-, meso-, and macroporous architectures; hierarchical and hybrid carbons; surface chemistry and heteroatom doping; defect and morphology control; advanced analytical and in situ characterization.
• Fundamental studies: understanding structure–property relationships, electronic behavior, adsorption phenomena, and mass/electron transport mechanisms in porous carbons.
• Applications across fields: energy storage and conversion, catalysis and electrocatalysis, gas capture and separation, environmental remediation, sensing, biomedicine, and multifunctional composites.
• Modeling and data-driven approaches: computational screening, machine learning-assisted materials design, and multiscale simulations.
• Lifecycle and sustainability assessment: carbon footprint, circular economy integration, process scalability, and green metrics for porous carbon technologies.

This topic seeks to foster a comprehensive and inclusive platform for all researchers working on porous carbons, ranging from fundamental mechanisms to practical applications, with sustainability as the unifying theme.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Keywords: Porous carbon materials, Biomass-derived carbons, Waste-derived carbon materials, Hierarchical porosity, Heteroatom doping, Carbon-based adsorbents, Sustainable porous carbons, Green synthesis, Energy materials

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.