可以预见，在相当一段时期内，能源和环境将是全球发展的两大主题. 其实，人类对能源的获取方式将对地球的生态环境和人类未来的生存状态和生活方式产生重要影响. 正因为如此，世界各国正在大力发展可再生能源和清洁能源. 电化学能源是将化学能高效转变为电能的一种能量转换方式，它历史悠久，但不断被改进和创新，尤其是近年来得到了较快的发展. 目前，电化学能源转换和存储器件主要包括一次电池（如锌锰电池等）、二次电池（如铅酸电池、镍氢电池、锂离子电池等）、燃料电池、金属-空气电池以及超级电容器等. 电化学能源和其它可再生能源相互补充、交叉利用将是未来清洁能源的主要发展方向.

Carbon materials are traditional electrode materials due to their excellent electrical conductivities, high electrochemical stabilities and wide potential windows. Glassy carbon, graphite, various activated charcoals, carbon fibers etc. have been widely used in electrochemistry serving as electrode substrates or supports. In addition to their applications in basic electrochemistry, carbon materials have also played important roles in electrochemical energy storage and conversion. In recent years, various types of carbon structures, from zero-dimensional carbon nanodots, one-dimensional nanotubes, two-dimensional graphene to three-dimensional porous carbons, have attracted increasing attention in electrochemical field. It has been found that carbon materials have outstanding properties as advanced electrochemical energy storage materials, and can be applied as supercapacitors and electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries, as well as advanced supporting materials for electrocatalysis and electroanalysis. Moreover, recent studies showed that heteroatom-doped or surface-functionalized carbon materials represent one of the most promising noble metal- or metal-free electrocatalysts for fuel cells. In recent years, scientists and technologists from China have made great contributions to the development in electrochemistry of carbon materials, and breakthrough has been achieved in this field, including design and synthesis of novel structure, studies in properties and applications of carbon materials in electrochemical energy-related fields.