system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5; why can't we, instead of charging batteries, use them in reverse?

So forgive my ignorance, as I'm sure if this was possible it would've been done LOONG ago, but to my knowledge a li-po/li-ion (or really any) battery works by taking a positively charged material (cathode) and negatively charged material (anode), separating them with an electrolyte, and equalizing the charge through the circuit and ions through the electrolyte.

So if we charge li-ion batteries to effectively redraw the ions into the cathode, why couldn't we essentially just discharge the battery in the opposite direction and "flip" the anode/cathode to continue to output energy until the electrolyte shunts and prevents flow completely?

I feel like, if this was possible, a lot of devices (with the aid of a controller board) could benefit from li-ion/li-po's power capabilities while allowing for an alkaline battery - like experience of changing the whole thing once the entire overall lifespan of the battery is exhausted.

TL;DR: Why can't we flip a li-ions polarity to continue to use it after it's dead instead of charging it?
gpt
You said it yourself, by "equalizing the charge" we are making both the anode and the cathode have the same potential, the voltage potential across a fully discharged battery is zero and would still be zero after "flipping" the leads. Your post reads like the design for a perpetual motion machine.