Porous graphene, which refers to graphene containing nanopores in the two-dimensional basal plane, has aroused great interest. Porous graphene not only retains the excellent intrinsic prosperities of original graphene, but also opens up an energy gap to generate a semiconducting carbon film. The existing nanopores can improve mass transfer efficiency when compared to inactive surface of graphene, thus the porous graphene has more widespread application perspective. Here, the aspects of theoretical base, synthesis methods and applications of porous graphene are reviewed. The synthesis methods mainly include lithography, catalytic etching, chemical vapor deposition, wet etching, carbothermal reduction, solvothermal synthesis and free radical attack. Meanwhile, the application of porous graphene predominantly focuses on fields of energy storage and conversion materials(e.g., fuel cells, supercapacitors, and lithium ion batteries), field effect transistors, chemical sensors, water desalination, molecular sieves and DNA sequencing.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical base and properties of porous graphene
3 Synthesis of porous graphene
3.1 Lithography techniques
3.2 Catalytic etching methods
3.3 Chemical vapor deposition method
3.4 Wet etching
3.5 Carbothermal reduction method
3.6 Solvothermal synthesis
3.7 Free radical attack method
3.8 Other methods
4 Applications
4.1 Fuel cell materials
4.2 Supercapacitors electrode materials
4.3 Lithium ion battery electrode materials
4.4 Field effect transistors
4.5 Chemical sensors
4.6 Water desalination
4.7 Molecular sieve
4.8 DNA sequencing
5 Existing problems
6 Conclusion and perspectives