In this article, Penox shows how its expander mixes and TBLS+® additive enhance negative active material, delivering longer life, consistent quality and secure supply for modern battery design applications.
The company’s proprietary TBLS+ additive, when combined with expander mixes, has been shown to extend the lifetime performance of negative plates without compromising cold cranking. This balance is critical for start-stop vehicles, enhanced flooded batteries (EFBs) and advanced AGM systems, where durability and performance must coexist.
Penox expanders are homogenous powder mixes produced exclusively from high-purity raw materials. This ensures minimal water loss and avoids detrimental effects on battery longevity. Unlike traditional batch mixes, Penox’s controlled formulations deliver a higher degree of homogeneity, reducing variability in paste quality and improving consistency across production lines.
Key benefits include:
- Reduced expander quantity per paste batch – only 1% is required, lowering material costs.
- More constant battery quality – thanks to optimised homogeneity.
- Reduction of labour and administrative costs – no manual dosing of individual compounds.
- Cleaner working environments – dust-free, automated packaging.
- Savings in time and transport – streamlined logistics from Penox’s EU production base.
- Technical support – available for trials and tailored formulations.
Penox develops expanders at its R&D centre and manufactures them in Germany/the EU. Recent investment in a fully automatic packaging line has increased efficiency and improved delivery times. Local European production shortens lead times and bolsters supply security – valuable in an era of volatile logistics. Penox also supports smaller trial batch sizes and tailor-made mixes, enabling manufacturers to validate performance before full-scale adoption.
Penox offers a comprehensive range of expander mixes tailored to different battery applications:
- PE 110 –standard SLI batteries
- PE 110HCA – high-charge-acceptance batteries
- PE 2xx series – EFB, AGM, gel batteries
- PE 3xx series – stationary batteries
- PE 410 – traction batteries
This portfolio reflects Penox’s strategy of tailoring expander formulations to specific market needs, from automotive start-stop systems to stationary energy storage and motive power.
