 Solution

This is a primary battery with a strongly reconstructive conversion electrode. Discharge produces stable LiF and a carbon phase while breaking the original carbon–fluorine framework. Charging would have to separate and reorganize those products, restore the fluorinated carbon structure and recover the initial lithium electrode.

LiF is highly stable and poorly conducting, the phase distribution and electrical contacts have changed, and the reverse pathway can require a large overpotential. Electrolyte oxidation or other side reactions can occur before efficient reconstruction is achieved. Thermodynamic reversibility of an overall reaction equation therefore does not guarantee a practical rechargeable electrode.