Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) announces three new grades of PBX™ carbon performance additives that are designed to improve lifetime and performance for advanced lead-acid batteries used in applications such as telecom, electric forklift, e-bike and small micro-hybrid vehicles.

Advanced lead-acid battery applications are the fastest growing component of the $30 billion lead-acid battery market. Trends like the global build out of 3G/LTE mobility services into new emerging areas are driving demand for long lifetime batteries in the telecom industry. Furthermore, the increased use of micro-hybrid vehicles and e-bikes has exposed the performance limitations of traditional lead-acid batteries, such as requiring more cycles at a higher rate of charge and discharge than can be accomplished. With over 130 million e-bikes on the road in China alone and increased use of micro-hybrid vehicles, battery manufacturers have been forced to re-engineer advanced lead-acid batteries to provide improved lifetime and performance.

Cabot’s PBX performance additives are designed to enable lead-acid batteries to last longer under repeated cycling and to accept recharging energy faster at lower cost than the current solution of oversizing the battery. PBX additives prolong battery life by reducing the effects of sulfation on the negative plate, the primary cause of short lifetimes in lead-acid batteries used in demanding applications.

Cabot PBX additives provide designers with application-specific solutions

Cabot now offers a full range of PBX additives that provides manufacturers with a variety of additives with unique properties to address the needs of different applications. These additives are suitable for long lifetime valve-regulated and flooded design advanced batteries, as well as for batteries used in applications requiring normal or improved charge acceptance.

• PBX09 performance additive is designed to balance high charge acceptance and improved cycle life in both valve-regulated and flooded type batteries. PBX09 is a multi-purpose additive suitable for most applications including telecom, electric forklift, e-bike and start-stop applications.
• PBX55 performance additive delivers improved cycle life for flooded batteries that require minimal charge acceptance such as small cars with start-stop functions and without regenerative breaking.
• PBX135 multipurpose performance additive combines improvement in cycle life and dynamic charge acceptance. The additive is designed primarily for flooded design batteries used in applications such as start-stop vehicles and electric forklifts where some fast charge improvement is required.

“Cabot is helping to significantly improve battery performance in all major applications and types of advanced lead-acid batteries. Building on our PBX51 product for valve-regulated designs, we are enabling lead-acid battery manufacturers to improve battery cycle life and performance in both valve-regulated and flooded lead-acid battery types,” said Gregg Smith, general manager, Cabot Energy Materials. “We take pride in designing materials that meet our customers’ specific application needs. We have the solutions to help manufacturers confront challenges and reach new levels of performance. Our PBX line of performance additives is transforming the capabilities of lead-acid batteries.”

PBX products are part of a new Cabot family of performance additives for advanced batteries designed specifically to solve customer problems at the fundamental particle materials level. Through the application of Cabot’s deep portfolio of carbon materials and particle technologies, PBX additives can be modified to perform one or more critical functions to promote dramatic performance and durability improvements in lead-acid batteries.

To learn more, visit our website at www.cabotcorp.com/batterymaterials or contact us at Battery.materials@cabotcorp.com.

About Cabot Corporation

Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company is the world’s No. 1 producer of rubber and specialty carbons, activated carbon, inkjet colorants and cesium formate drilling fluids and has market-leading positions in fumed silica, aerogel, and elastomer composites. For more information on Cabot, please visit the company’s website at: http://www.cabotcorp.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in the press release regarding Cabot's business that are not historical facts are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.