TULSA, Okla. — September 3, 2026 — Advanced materials firm Ten-Nine Technologies has announced the commercial scale-up of TENIX, its patented cathode additive designed to prevent chemical decomposition that degrades battery performance over time.
Described by the company as “anti-aging for batteries,” TENIX is blended directly into a battery’s cathode active material during manufacturing. The additive represents between 0.5% and 2% of total cathode weight—roughly 0.5kg to 2kg per 100kg of cathode material, which Ten-Nine says is typical of an EV battery pack.
Ten-Nine said TENIX is designed as a drop-in material that can be integrated into existing cathode production lines without requiring new manufacturing equipment or a battery-cell redesign. At its current 100-ton production capacity, the company says it can supply enough TENIX to treat between 50,000 and 200,000 typical EV battery packs each year.
How TENIX Battery Additive Works
According to Ten-Nine, unwanted chemical by-products accumulate inside batteries as they charge and discharge. These degradation processes can contribute to reduced battery power, shorter range, increased heat generation and declining long-term performance.
TENIX is intended to address that degradation at the cathode level. The company says its surface chemistry disrupts chemical processes that cause batteries to age, helping preserve power and extend usable battery life.
Paige Johnson, Founder and CEO of Ten-Nine Technologies, said:
“Just like people, batteries age. Products of chemical decomposition build up during use, limiting a battery’s performance and lifetime, and until now that’s just been treated as an unavoidable cost of doing business. I’m a chemist so I wanted to fix that at the source rather than build a whole new battery to work around it. TENIX has a unique surface chemistry that disrupts that aging process, giving batteries more power and significantly longer life.”
Cycle Life, Resistance and Thermal Claims
According to Ten-Nine, third-party testing found that TENIX delivered more than 75% additional charge-discharge cycles. The company says the result could extend a typical EV battery’s lifespan from a 150,000-mile warranty baseline to more than 265,000 miles.
Ten-Nine also said the longer battery life can reduce the lifetime cost per kilowatt-hour delivered by approximately 40%. The company reported a 10% reduction in internal resistance, which it says can support faster charging and reduce energy lost as heat.
The company further said TENIX can reduce a battery’s lifetime heat output by around 40%. That could be particularly relevant for high-demand stationary applications, including backup battery systems supporting AI-driven data centres.
Enabling Manganese-Rich Cathodes
The commercial rollout comes as the battery industry increasingly explores manganese-rich cathodes. Manganese is generally less expensive and more geographically diverse than cobalt- and nickel-heavy cathode materials, with mining activity across Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
However, manganese-rich cathodes have historically faced cycle-life limitations. Ten-Nine says its surface chemistry is designed to address degradation pathways that have constrained the wider adoption of manganese-rich battery chemistries.
Johnson added:
“I started this company in the back of a warehouse in Tulsa with $100,000 and four grams of material in a flask. I never imagined we’d end up here, but I always believed that if the chemistry was right, it would matter to a lot of people’s lives. That’s still what gets me up in the morning.”
Commercial Trials and Production Capacity
Ten-Nine Technologies is conducting evaluation trials with battery manufacturers that collectively represent more than half of global battery production volume. The company is accepting commercial orders for delivery in 2026 and 2027 from its Tulsa manufacturing facility.
Founded in 2014, Ten-Nine has raised $45 million to date and holds 67 granted patents covering its core cathode chemistry. The company says it has no direct competitor offering a cathode additive of the same kind, noting that silicon-anode and solid-state electrolyte technologies address different components of a battery cell.
