On paper, it doesn't seem like Christopher Wolverton's super lithium-rich battery should work. For one, the novel battery uses iron, an inexpensive metal that has notoriously failed in batteries. And in another difficult feat, the battery leverages oxygen to help drive the chemical reaction, which researchers previously believed would cause the battery to become unstable.
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Source:  Northwestern University. "New lithium-rich battery could last much longer: Battery leverages both iron and oxygen to drive more lithium ions." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 January 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180103194649.htm>.