Important properties of the electrodes are: the electrical resistivity, the specific heat capacity (c_p), the electrode potential and the hardness. Of course, for technological applications, the cost of the material is also an important factor. The values of these properties at room temperature (T = 293 K) for some commonly used materials are listed in the table below. Surface effects
The surface topology of the electrode plays an important factor in determining the efficiency of an electrode. The efficiency of the electrode can be reduced due to contact resistance. To create an efficient electrode it is therefore important to design it such that it minimizes the contact resistance. Manufacturing
The production of electrodes for Li-Ion batteries is done in various steps as follows:
The various constituents of the electrode are mixed into a solvent. This mixture is designed such that it improves the performance of the electrodes. Common components of this mixture are:
The active electrode particles. A binder used to contain the active electrode particles. A conductive agent used to improve the conductivity of the electrode.The mixture created is known as an ‘electrode slurry’. The electrode slurry above is coated onto a conductor which acts as the current collector in the electrochemical cell. Typical current collectors are copper for the cathode and aluminum for the anode. After the slurry has been applied to the conductor it is dried and then pressed to the required thickness. Structure of the electrode
For a given selection of constituents of the electrode, the final efficiency is determined by the internal structure of the electrode.
An interpretation of this result and what a closer look at the physical meaning of the 
  
    
      
        λ
      
    
    {\displaystyle \lambda }
   one can read the paper by Marcus.the situation at hand can be more accurately described by using the displaced harmonic oscillator model, in this model quantum tunneling is allowed. This is needed in order to explain why even at near-zero Kelvin there still are electron transfers, in contradiction to the classical theory. Without going into too much detail on how the derivation is done, it rests on using Fermis golden rule from time-dependent perturbation theory with the full Hamiltonian of the system. It is possible to look at the overlap in the wavefunctions of both the reactants and the products (the right and the left side of the chemical reaction) and therefore when their energies are the same and allow for electron transfer. As touched on before this must happen because only then conservation of energy is abided by.