Fast charging forces up the rate of chemical reaction in the cell (as does fast discharging) and it may be necessary to allow "rest periods" during the charging process for the chemical actions to propagate throughout the bulk of the chemical mass in the cell and to stabilise at progressive levels of charge.
A memorable though not quite equivalent phenomenon is the pouring of beer into a glass. Pouring very quickly results in a lot of froth and a small amount of beer at the bottom of the glass. Pouring slowly down the side of the glass or alternatively letting the beer settle till the froth disperses and then topping up allows the glass to be filled completely.
Hysteresis
The time constants and the phenomena mentioned above thus give rise to
hysteresis in the battery. During charging the chemical reaction lags behind the application of the charging voltage and similarly, when a load is applied to the battery to discharge it, there is a delay before the full current can be delivered through the load. As with
magnetic hysteresis,
energy is lost during the charge discharge cycle due to the chemical hysteresis effect.
