is replaced by a porous membrane with liquid electrolyte for purposes of illustration the battery 20 to be described is of the lithium type but other alkali metals or alkaline earth metals can be used if desired the battery 20 includes a base 21 which acts as a current collector and carrier of the electrode to the base 21 as illustrated is added a layer 22 of composite electrode material the composite electrode active material contains electroconductive fibers 23 which may be plain carbon fibers or carbon fibers plastic fibers or other fibers which have been metallized in any well known manner such as by spraying sputtering vacuum deposition dip coating electroplating or electroless metal plating the metal coating may be of any suitable material such as copper nickel aluminum or other materials selected to be compatible with the components of the battery or device the fibers after coating with metal are chopped into small pieces and then mixed into an electrode slurry which includes an active material a carbon powder and a binder and may include a solvent the slurry is preferably coated onto a release tape not shown and solidified by well known means depending on its composition such as cooling radiation or heat cross linking the resultant layer 22 has the release tape peeled off and can then be pressed onto a metal foil or grid 21 which is a current collector and carrier to form an electrode assembly if desired the slurry may be coated directly onto a current collector 21 such as metal foil or grid or fibrous net or other current collector layer the presence of the chopped metallized fibers markedly improves the electrical conductivity of the electrode structure and they may also touch the current collector.