The problem with Lithium-Ion batteries is not the battery itself, but rather the software that provides the gauge of state of charge. Even my laptop has a function the discharges and recharges a couple times to reset the gauge.

The question that always raised is: given the explanation above (well done!), why do these batts EVENTUALLY hold less and less charge time and that EVENTUALLY do not hold ANY charge at all.

The anode is plus and the cathode is minus. You got the signs reversed on the diagram.

true one thing that MIGHT help a bit is to let the battery run down a fair amount, say below 20% left then turn the phone OFF and let it charge completely sometimes this helps the ' charge remaining ' calculation to be more accurate
wle

Does everyday count as periodically, am i the only person who actually uses their phone?

The explanation inferred that the charge process causes a negative lithium ion to migrate through the medium to the negative terminal giving it a negative charge. When the excess electron flows through the load to to the positive terminal to do work this leaves a neutral lithium atom at the negative terminal. Does the charging process cause this neutral lithium atom to migrate back across the medium to be ionized?

New Samsung phones used to recommend a long (overnight) 1st charge and then 5 cycles of full discharge-recharge. Was that to condition earlier Li batteries ?. Not applicable anymore.

NiCad and NiMH batteries have 'metal' electrodes where the 'metal' is dissolved into the electrolyte during discharge and then (unevenly) electroplated back on during charging. If the battery is shallow cycled multiple times the electroplating process forms 'dendrites' that eventually grow to the point where they short circuit through the electrolyte to the opposite electrode. A periodic deep discharge will dissolve the dendrites returning the electrodes to their original smooth condition. Since Li-ion batteries don't have metallic Lithium dendrite growth does NOT occur and deep discharge is not only unnecessary but can actually damage a Li-ion battery.

Man, why can't we have Graphene Ultracapacitors by now. They had them in the lab almost a decade ago already. http://www.greenoptimistic.com/how-to-make-graphene-hydrazine-solution-20081112/ Batteries are inferior on every level.

unggitsastra "in an ideal scenario the lithium insertion and extraction process is 100 percent reversible; in reality some lithium-ions are lost in undesired reactions and cell battery performance degrades gradually."