C. L. Edwin Yu, Jiarui Yang, Deyan Luan, Xiong Wen Lou
Li-metal anodes (LMAs) have attracted significant interest in high-energy-density Li-metal batteries (LMBs) due to their high theoretical capacity and low electrochemical potential. Nonetheless, the instability and host-less nature of Li impede the development of stable LMBs. To address the challenge, metals and metal compounds have been demonstrated to exhibit effective lithiophilicity in guiding uniform Li deposition. Concurrently, hollow-structured nanomaterials have emerged as advanced Li hosts for LMAs. This review discusses the application of hollow Li hosts featuring metals or metal compounds in LMAs, investigates the in situ and ex situ characterizations of Li deposition behavior in hollow Li hosts, elucidates the mechanisms of regulating Li deposition by metals or metal compounds, and explores the representative instances of hollow Li hosts containing metal or metal compound sites. Finally, this review outlines some future prospects for the advancement of hollow Li hosts integrated with metals or metal compounds.