• Carbon materials, including carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and amorphous carbon, are promising for dual-function high thermal conductivity and microwave absorption applications.
• Structural design strategies such as core-shell structures, three-dimensional networks, and heteroatom doping significantly enhance both thermal conductivity and electromagnetic wave absorption performance.
• Combining carbon materials with other high thermal conductivity components can achieve integrated heat conduction and EWA, addressing impedance mismatch and single loss mechanisms.
• Future design of carbon-based high thermal conduction microwave absorbing materials should focus on overcoming dispersion challenges and optimizing structure-property relationships.