Preparation and applications of hierarchical porous carbons from direct coal liquefaction residue

► Hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) were prepared from coal liquefaction residue. ► The formed silicate during KOH activation by additive serves as template for HPCs. ► The HPCs have the ratio of mesoporosity to microporosity being close to 1:1. ► HPCs show better catalytic performance for catalytic methane decomposition. ► HPCs based electrodes show higher capacitance for supercapacitors.