TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY - Preferred Method: Formation of the cathodic layer comprises electrochemically forming the cathodic layer. Formation of a conductive layer comprises electrolessly depositing a conductive material on the surface of the nonconductive substrate. The method comprises providing cavities (104) in the substrate, the cavities having an arbitrary shape and having an aspect ratio greater than 1, preferably between 2-50; and depositing the cathodic layer, electrolyte layer, and anodic layer between the cavities and throughout the inner surfaces of the cavities.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Material: The cathodic layer comprises a material(s) consisting of sulfides of a transition metal and/or oxides of transition metal. The cathodic layer comprises a material(s) from copper sulfide, molybdenum sulfide (MoS2), CoxSy, ComOn, and/or tungsten sulfide.x = 1-4;y = 1-10;m = 1-2;andn = 1-3.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - METALLURGY - Preferred Material: The conductive material comprises a material(s) consisting of copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, gold, silver, palladium, platinum, or their alloys.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Material: The substrate comprises a material(s) from glass, alumina, semiconductor materials, ceramic materials, organic polymers, inorganic polymers, or glass-epoxy composites. It comprises silicon. EXAMPLE - A 0.3 mum-thick cathode was prepared by reduction of MoS42- ions on a nickel coated silicon substrate, at a constant density of 10-15 mA/cm2. The nickel deposition was carried out in a nickel sulfate:sodium dihydrogen phosphate:ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solution with pH of 4, and at 90degreesC for a few minutes. The deposition of MoS2 was carried out using an aqueous solution of 0.05 M tetrathiomolybdate. A potassium chloride (0.1 M) electrolyte was the supporting electrolyte. The electrodeposition was carried out at room temperature using a constant current density of 10 mA/cm2 for 4 minutes. The preferred polymer for the hybrid polymer electrolyte (HPE) was PVDF-2801 Kynar (polyvinylidene fluoride copolymer). The lithium/HPE/MoS2 cell delivered above 20 muAh/cycle at 100 muA/cm2 for over 1000 reversible cycles, with the capacity face of 0.05%/cycle. The faradaic efficiency was close to 100%.