The electrochemical reduction of Ag 0.48 VOPO 4 • 1.9H 2 O is accompanied by vanadium and silver oxidation state changes, characterized with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and by structural changes, characterized with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The XAS data suggest that the initial reduction process, involving 0 to 0.5 electron equivalents, involved primarily the reduction of vanadium cations, while most of the silver cations are reduced between 0.5 to 1.0 electron equivalents. The XRD data display significant intensity decreases of absorbances associated with the 004 and 006 planes upon electrochemical reduction, consistent with a reduction-displacement of Ag + with insertion of Li + . Retention of intensity of the absorbance associated with the 002 plane, with only minor decrease in interlayer spacing, indicates retention of the VOPO 4 sublattice structure. Uncovering the details of the discharge mechanism of bimetallic cathode materials such as Ag 0.48 VOPO 4 should enable the design of future high current cathodes for secondary batteries displaying an enhanced current capacity based on a reduction-displacement strategy. Polyanionic frameworks form the basis of a number of battery electrode materials with desirable electrochemical properties.1 For example, commercial cells using LiFePO 4 chemistry have found success owing to both high charge and discharge current capability. Unfortunately, these materials can display low electrical and ionic conductivities; fortunately, the use of a conductive additive such as carbon can mitigate these issues. However, the use of conductive additives may increase production costs and negatively affect energy density. 3,4 In addition to conductive additives, low electrical conductivities of electroactive electrode materials can be addressed by exploiting electrode electrochemistries that form conductive metallic networks in situ. Specifically, we established through impedance experiments that the metallic particles formed upon reduction of some bimetallic cathode materials can enhance the conductivity by several orders of magnitude. 5 We successfully extended this strategy to four different members of the material family of silver vanadium phosphorous oxides, Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 , 21 This strategy should lead to a variety of future battery materials, especially for high current applications.To delineate the discharge process in bimetallic materials, the oxidation state changes associated with the two metal cations as a function of discharge should be obtained. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), the oxidation state as well as the local environment can be measured nondestructively. XAS measurements of LiFePO 4 have been used to show the irreversibility and partial formation of FePO 4 during cycling. 22 There have also been several previous studies on silver vanadium phosphate compounds using XAS to study Ag 2 VO 2 PO 4 , 7 and Ag 2 VP 2 O 8 11 in which the effect of discharge rate on the ratio of V/Ag reduction was determined. * Electrochemical Society Active Membe...