Hirotomo Nishihara, PhD, is a Full Professor at WPI-AIMR and IMRAM, Tohoku University, and Chief Science Officer at 3DC, a startup he founded in 2022 to commercialize graphene mesosponge. He received the JSPS Prize in 2020. Takeharu Yoshii, PhD, is an Associate Professor at IMRAM, Tohoku University. His research focuses on nanostructured heterogeneous catalysts and carbon materials. He received the Chemical Society of Japan Award for Young Chemists in 2025. Wei Yu, PhD, is a tenure-track assistant professor at Tohoku University. He holds a PhD from Tsinghua University and has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications and three international patents on carbon and energy materials. Junlong Huang, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at WPI-AIMR, Tohoku University. His research focuses on the design and preparation of functional porous polymers and carbon materials for energy storage devices. Robert Karoly Szilagyi, PhD, MSc, is an Associate Professor and Department Head of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. His research integrates quantum chemical methods with synchrotron spectroscopy across bioinorganic systems and materials science.

• Author Biography ixPreface xiAcknowledgments xiii1 General Background of Carbon Materials 11.1 Carbon Allotrope 11.2 Synthesis of sp2-Based Carbon Allotropes 72 Graphene and Related Materials 152.1 Graphene 152.2 Synthesis of Graphene-Based Materials 242.3 Commercial Graphene Products 292.4 Application of Graphene-Based Materials 312.5 Limitations of 2D Graphene and the Need for 3D Architectures 343 3D Carbon Materials 393.1 Geometric Considerations Toward 3D Graphene Materials 393.2 Plausible Advantages of 3D Graphene 423.3 Synthetic Strategies Toward 3D Graphene Materials 463.4 Templated Synthesis 603.5 Remaining Challenges and Outlook 764 Structural Evaluation of Graphene-Based 3D Materials 934.1 Defects 944.2 Edge Site Analysis by HT-TPD 944.3 Domain Size 974.4 Stacking Number 994.5 Topological Defect Analysis 1015 Graphene Mesosponge – A Genuine 3D Graphene 1035.1 Definition 1035.2 Development History 1055.3 Synthesis 1085.4 Structure 1225.5 Intermediates 1365.6 Comprehensive Discussion of GMS Properties 1395.7 Summary and Outlook 1576 Applications 1676.1 Catalyst Supports 1676.2 Supercapacitors 1716.3 Li-S Batteries 1806.4 Li-O6.5 Fuel Cells 1946.6 Li-Ion Batteries 1976.7 New Type of Heat Pumps 1996.8 Biosensors 2036.9 Summary and Perspective 204References 2057 Conclusive Remarks and Perspective 213Index 217