an electrode for an electrochemical cell is formed by blending an electrochemically active compound with a conductive material , forming the blend into a plurality of agglomerates , admixing the agglomerates with a second conductive material which may be the same as or different from the first conductive material and compressing the resulting mixture . the method is particularly useful for forming cathodes containing a mercury compound , since such cathodes have greatly enhanced abilities to immobilize free mercury during cell discharge .