For clean energy sources like solar or nuclear, molten salt is somewhat of a wonder material. In concentrated solar power plants, for example, the sun’s heat can be stored in the liquid for long periods of time. Conversely, next-generation nuclear reactors can use molten salt as a coolant and as a solvent for uranium fuel—making the reactors potentially smaller, safer, less complex and more economical than current nuclear power plants.

However, molten salt is well-known to corrode metal, so researchers are working hard to create metal alloys that can withstand constant wearing away, specifically when they’re exposed at high temperatures. But progress has been slow going — and that, says Adrien Couet, also has kept molten salt technologies from reaching their potential in the energy industry, too.

“Developing those new materials is an extremely lengthy and costly process, which is why industry is lacking alloy options for developing molten salt technologies,” says Couet, an associate professor of engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.