Abstract Porous carbons have been extensively studied as double layer capacitors due to their large surface area, chemical stability, easy processability and long cycle life. However, they have low conductivity and the energy storage occurs mainly through double layer mechanism. The addition of a conducting polymer thin film can improve the performance of the porous carbon and open the possibilities for preparing advanced carbon materials. This review focuses in the methods for the synthesis of conducting polymer/carbon composites, for their application in electrical energy storage and the synthesis of advanced carbon materials.