By increasing the surface area of a material, the highly dispersed active components can be promoted, the electron migration of the catalyst can be accelerated, the acid level on the material’s surface can be changed, and the catalytic activity can be greatly improved. As a result, the preparation of catalytic materials with large specific surface area has become a research hotspot. Although many studies have emphasized the importance of material surface changes for catalytic performance, there is currently a lack of systematic research that can reveal the structure–activity relationship between specific surface area and catalytic activity. Furthermore, several studies have proven the structure of the large specific surface area material evolution mechanism and the performance impact. The construction of key structural characteristics affects catalytic activity, thus, realizing the controllable preparation of catalytic materials. In this review, the different preparation methods, physicochemical mechanism, characteristic analysis, and preparation challenges of catalytic materials with a large specific surface area are systematically summarized, and future development is prospected. In addition, the influence and limitation of morphology, scale, and elemental characteristics on the preparation of catalytic materials with a large specific surface area were emphasized.