Porous carbons are widely used as industrial adsorbents because of the hydrophobic nature of
their surfaces, high surface area, large pore volumes, chemical inertness, good mechanical
stability, and good thermal stability. There has been a growing interest in new applications of
porous carbons because of their ability to interact with molecules not only at their surfaces but
also in the bulk of the material. The present review is about the synthesis of porous carbon by
using templates. Special emphasis is placed on the type of templating agent and organic materials
that are used. The details of the methods employed for this purpose and the results are
introduced. By changing the template and organic precursor, one can synthesize porous carbons
with different properties. Future studies need to be conducted on their controlled synthesis.