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Activated carbons are one of the most important classes of high‐surface‐area porous materials. Owing to their unique structure, low price, and large‐scale production technology, these porous carbons have been traditionally used as sorbents for eliminating contamination. In the past decade, many innovations have been seen in the synthesis, structure, applications, and theoretical and experimental methods. Herein, a comprehensive review of the up‐to‐date progress of activated carbons is presented from the viewpoint of synthetic chemistry and materials science. First, the critical textural properties are discussed, with special emphasis on the porous texture, heteroatom doping, surface functional groups, and partial graphitization. Next, the advanced synthetic strategies of activated carbons are summarized. Special attention is given to the reaction mechanism between activating agents and carbon sources, as well as the design of controlled forms and morphology. Then, their applicability in various emerging fields is covered, including supercapacitors, capacitive deionization, batteries, electrocatalysis, and carbon capture. In particular, this review highlights the potential synthesis–structure–property correlations of these porous materials. Finally, we present the future challenges and outlook for their success in energy and environmental science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles were formed in the mesoporous channels of SBA-15 via direct low-temperature decomposition of H2PtCl6·6H2O by an improved solid–liquid route. During the preparation, solid H2PtCl6·6H2O turned into liquid and infiltrated the channels of SBA-15 when the temperature was above its melting point. The reaction process was analyzed by different characterizations. The results show that the solid intermediate phase, PtCl2, could not flow and assemble in the mesoporous channels during the heat-treatment; thus, it transformed into dispersed Pt nanoparticles after the reaction. Furthermore, as a nanoreactor, the mesoporous system had a nano-confinement effect on the low-temperature formation of Pt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]