• Petroleum asphalt is a low-cost, carbon-rich precursor for advanced carbon materials, offering high yield and abundant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
• Key preparation methods include template-assisted pyrolysis, molten salt treatment, activation, heteroatom doping, and pre-oxidation, each tailoring pore structure and surface chemistry.
• Asphalt-derived carbons show promising performance in supercapacitors and alkali metal-ion batteries, with specific capacitance and cycling stability enhanced by heteroatom doping.
• Challenges such as complex composition and structural control are addressed by proposing feasible solutions for high-value utilization.