• Low-rank coal is a promising precursor for carbon materials due to its abundance, high carbon content, and low cost, but its variability poses challenges for structural control.
• Different processing strategies (activation, templating, etc.) are required to produce activated carbon, capacitive carbon, hard carbon, and graphite with tailored properties.
• Coal rank and process parameters significantly influence the microstructure, surface chemistry, and electrochemical performance of the resulting carbon materials.
• Coal-based carbons show great potential in adsorption, supercapacitors, and alkali metal batteries, but further research is needed to optimize performance and scalability.