We study nanoporous-carbon (NPC) grown via pulsed laser deposition (PLD) as an electrically conductive anode host material for Mg2+ intercalation. NPC has high surface area, and an open, accessible pore structure tunable via mass density that can improve diffusion. We fabricate 2032 coin cells using NPC coated stainless-steel disk anodes, metallic Mg cathodes, and a Grignard-based electrolyte. NPC mass density is controlled during growth, ranging from 0.06-1.3 g/cm(3). The specific surface area of NPC increases linearly from 1,000 to 1,700 m(2)/g as mass density decreases from 1.3 to 0.26 g/cm(3), however, the surface area falls off dramatically at lower mass densities, implying a lack of mechanical integrity in such nanostructures. These structural characterizations correlate directly with coin cell electrochemical measurements. In particular, cyclic voltammetry (CV) scans for NPC with density similar to 0.5 g/cm(3) and BET surface area similar to 1500 m(2)/g infer the possibility of reversible Mg-ion intercalation. Higher density NPC yields capacitive behavior, most likely resulting from the smaller interplanar spacings between graphene sheet fragments and tighter domain boundaries; lower density NPC results in asymmetrical CV scans, consistent with the likely structural degradation resulting from mass transport through soft, low-density carbon materials. (C) The Author(s) 2016. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.