Hello every one. I have a question on electrode materials for rechargeable batteries.

When testing new materials (as cathode and/or anode) do we need to set up a protection for capacity using the battery tester?

Further more do we need to start from a charge or a discharge when we are analysing the performance ( example : cyclic stability, charge and discharge capacities etc.) of a cathode material using a battery tester ? How to determine this?