The energy density of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) could be much higher than that of current graphite anode-based LIBs. When a metallic current collector is used for plating/de-plating of lithium (i.e., anode-free lithium metal batteries (AFLMBs)) energy density could be higher by about 70%. However, LMBs suffer from dendritic lithium growth and formation of an unstable solid-electrolyte interface, which requires careful control to improve the cycling performance and the overall safety. The current collector (CC), typically Cu, plays an important role in lithium nucleation/growth, local current density and Li-ion flux distribution. However, the commonly used planar Cu CC does not work satisfactorily, and as such, modifications of Cu CC, for decreasing the local current density, suppressing the lithium dendrite growth, and improving the Coulombic efficiency (CE), have been widely investigated and reported in the literature. This review systematically summarizes the modification methods for Cu CCs and serves as a guide for rational design of modified Cu CCs with tailored structures and properties. Furthermore, misrepresentation and misinterpretation of data, which are often observed in the literature on this topic, are critically discussed and insights into the key challenges and future directions on this topic are presented.

锂金属电池（LMBs）的能量密度可能远高于目前基于石墨负极的LIBs。当金属集电器用于锂的电镀/去电镀（即无阳极锂金属​​电池（AFLMB））时，能量密度可高出约70%。然而，LMBs 会受到枝晶锂生长和形成不稳定的固体电解质界面的影响，这需要仔细控制以提高循环性能和整体安全性。集电器 (CC)，通常是铜，在锂成核/生长、局部电流密度和锂离子通量分布中起着重要作用。然而，常用的平面 Cu CC 不能令人满意地工作，因此，Cu CC 的修改，以降低局部电流密度，抑制锂枝晶生长，并提高库仑效率（CE），已在文献中得到广泛研究和报道。本综述系统地总结了 Cu CCs 的改性方法，并为合理设计具有定制结构和性能的改性 Cu CCs 提供了指导。此外，在有关该主题的文献中经常观察到的对数据的误传和曲解进行了批判性讨论，并提出了对该主题的关键挑战和未来方向的见解。