NOVELTY - The cell (100) has a porous separator (106) positioned adjacent to a negative electrode (102). A positive electrode (104) is spaced apart from the negative electrode by the separator, and includes a porous electrically conductive material portion (110) coated with a conformally coated oxide protective layer, where an electrolyte (114) is placed within the porous electrically conductive material portion. The oxide protective layer is formed using an atomic layer and chemical vapor deposition processes and a molecular beam epitaxy process.    USE - Metal/oxygen electrochemical cell i.e. lithium-oxygen cell, for metal/oxygen based rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for portable electronics and electric and hybrid-electric vehicles.    ADVANTAGE - The separator prevents the negative electrode from being electrically connected with the positive electrode with low power consumption, thus increasing hysteresis between charge and discharge voltages of the cell to increase round-trip energy efficiency of the cell. The cell is provided with two electrodes for controlling distribution of oxygen and electrolyte within the electrode in a fully charged state.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - The oxide protective layer includes an oxide selected from a group consisting of Titanium dioxide, Aluminum trioxide, Zinc Oxide, Silicon oxide, Indium oxide, and zirconium oxide. The conformally coated protective layer is a Silicon Carbon layer. The negative electrode is formed from lithium metal or a lithium-insertion compound such as graphite, silicon, tin, Lithium Aluminum, Lithium Magnesium, and Lithium Titaniumoxide. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is also included for a method for forming a metal/oxygen electrochemical cell.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The drawing shows a schematic view of a lithium-oxygen cell with two electrodes for controlling a distribution of oxygen and electrolyte within the electrode in a fully charged state.    Metal/oxygen electrochemical cell (100)    Negative electrode (102)    Positive electrode (104)    Porous separator (106)    Current collector (108)    Porous electrically conductive material portion (110)    Electrolyte (114)