TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Component: Oxygen ions of the compound (I) are partially substituted by fluorine ions. The precursor electrode comprises lithium-vanadium oxide (LiV3O8), Li3VO4, Li-manganese oxide (Li4Mn5O12, Li0.3MnO2.15), Li-iron oxide (LiFeO2), Li-molybdenum oxide (Li2MoO4), Li-ruthenium oxide (Li2RuO3), Li-platinum oxide (LiPtO6), and Li-iridium oxide (Li8IrO6), or Li2MnO3 in combination with these compounds. It may also comprise Li5FeO4, Li-cobalt oxide (Li6CoO4), Li-nickel oxide (Li6NiO4) or Li6MnO4, or Li2MnO3 in combination with these compounds. The precursor electrode further comprises metal catalyst and/or catalytic compound. The metal catalyst comprises transition-metal or precious-metal element(s); and iron, manganese, cobalt, nickel, ruthenium, platinum or iridium. The catalytic compound comprises a metal oxide which is manganese oxide or vanadium oxide. The precursor electrode comprises primary and secondary particles with an average primary particle less than 1 mu m and an average secondary particle less than 50 mu m. The electrode is activated by applying a high potential to the precursor electrode to remove lithium oxide (Li2O) from the positive electrode. The lithium from the Li2O removed from the positive electrode is loaded into the negative electrode of the cell. The positive electrode is activated by acid treatment to remove Li2O from the precursor electrode material and/or to effect hydrogen (H+) ion exchange for the lithium ions. The positive electrode is activated by removing Li2O from the positive electrode during a charging process. The oxygen supplied to the positive electrode comprises pure oxygen, air, or oxygen diluted with an electrochemically inert gas. The negative electrode of the electrochemical cell comprises carbon material, metal material, semi-metal material, intermetallic material, and metal oxide material. The negative electrode of the electrochemical cell comprises amorphous carbon, graphite, Li, tin, silicon, copper-tin (Cu6Sn5), and Li-titanium oxide (Li4Ti5O12). The electrolyte of the cell comprises solid electrolyte or liquid electrolyte. The electrolyte of the electrochemical cell comprises solid electrolyte and liquid electrolyte.