# Recent Advances in Lithiophilic Porous Framework toward Dendrite-Free Lithium Metal Anode
## 2 Metal-Based Li Host
### Nickel
[PERSON] et al., prepared a lithophilic Cu-Cuo-Ni hybrid structure by depositing Cu on Ni foam by radio frequency (R-F) sputtering followed by annealing at 400 \({}^{\circ}\)C and then finally, CuO-Ni was reduced by H\({}_{2}\) plasma [66]. Figure 4j-l shows the lithium plating mechanism on Cu-Ni, CuO-Ni, and Cu-CuO-Ni current collector. The copper has high overpotential for Li nucleation, which can be lowered by using the lithophilic CuO nanowire (NW) arrays. Besides, the evenly distributed electric field on CuO-NW arrays leads to the uniform Li-ion flux and lowers the current density. The thin layer of the Cu layer on CuO still maintains the lithophilicity, offers lower nucleation potential, and increases the electrical conductivity. The Cu film acts as a protective layer during electrochemical cycling. As a result, the hybrid Cu-CuO-Ni structure demonstrated a dendrite free Li plating with CE > 95% for more than 250 cycles at 1 mA cm\({}^{-2}\) and long symmetrical plating/stripping cycling up to 580 h at 0.5 mA cm\({}^{-2}\) with a capacity of 0.5 mAh cm\({}^{-2}\). [PERSON] et al. designed nanostructured lithophilic VA NiO hexagonal nanoplates on Ni foil (HP-NiO-Ni) by a facile hydrothermal process as shown in Figure 4m [59]. Such  
Figure 4: Lithophilic behavior on the Ni-based porous framework. (**a-i**) Fabrication of the Li-Ni composite. Reproduced with permission from [55], John Wiley and Sons, 2017. (**j–l**) The schematic representation of Li plating on Cu-Ni, Cuo-Ni, and Cu-CuO-Ni. Reproduced with permission from [66], John Wiley and Sons, 2018. (**m**) Schematic illustration of HP-NiO sheets’ growth on Ni foil. Reproduced with permission from [59], Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019. (**n**) The schematic illustration of lithophilic ZnO NA modified Ni foam (ZMNF) growth and its advantages. Reproduced with permission from [62], Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019.  
a HP-NiO-Ni nanostructure significantly reduces the current density and nucleation overpotential for efficient, homogeneous, and smooth Li deposition. Besides, the lithophilic Li\({}_{2}\)O and electronic conductive Ni formed during the reversible conversion reaction of NiO to Ni/Li\({}_{2}\)O facilitates uniform Li-ion transport and fast electron conduction pathways, respectively. Thus, the synergy of reversible conversion reaction, and the uniform/reversible Li plating mechanism stores excess Li even at higher current density. The formation of the Li containing alloy is believed to lower the nucleation overpotential and guide the uniform Li deposition [1]. [PERSON] et al. reported the lithophilic ZnO NA modified Ni foam (ZMNF) by a facile seed-mediated hydrothermal reaction process [62]. The ZMNF current collector improved the affinity towards the Li, provided fast Li-ion kinetics, reduced the nucleation barrier, and lessened the Li volume expansion during plating/stripping cycles. The ZnO NA improves the Li affinity with molten Li by alloying and capillary effect as shown in Figure 4n. As a result, ZMNF exhibited a CE above 98% for over 300 cycles at 1 mA cm\({}^{-2}\) and a symmetrical cell demonstrated a long plating/stripping cycles over 1200 h at 1 mA cm\({}^{-2}\) to achieve 2 mAh cm\({}^{-2}\). The graphene-based materials can provide scaffolds for Li electrodeposition and act as nucleation seeds. Graphitized carbon on Ni foam by heating Ni foam up to 1000 \({}^{\circ}\)C under Ar and H\({}_{2}\) and introducing methane (CH\({}_{4}\)) [67] or acetylene (C\({}_{2}\)H\({}_{2}\)) [68], few-layered graphene sheets attached to the surface of Ni foam following the acid-catalyzed hydrothermal process [69] have been reported for reduced overpotential and improved battery performance. The other metal-based current collector such as titanium (Ti) and stainless steel has also been reported to guide the uniform Li deposition in LMBs. [PERSON] et al. proposed a porous lightweight corrosion-resistance 3D Ti current collector, which achieved outstanding CE of 99% at 1 mA cm\({}^{-2}\) to achieve a capacity of 5 mAh cm\({}^{-2}\)[70].