Chemists at Oregon State University found that simple sodium chloride, or table salt, has the ability to enable the mass commercial production of silicon nanostructures at significantly reduced costs.

Silicone nanostructures, which are smaller than a speck of dust, have the potential to be used in photonics, biological imaging, sensors, drug delivery, thermoelectric materials that can convert heat into electricity, and energy storage. Until this recent discovery, current technologies used to make these materials were costly, and simpler technologies were not feasible because they required extremely high temperatures.

Through a simple, cost-effect process of melting and absorbing heat at a critical moment during a "magnesiothermic reaction", salt acts as a heat scavenger, preventing the collapse of the nanostructure that researchers are trying to create. The molten salt can then be washed away by dissolving it in water, where it can be recycled, and used again.

With this process, the study also resulted in the creation of nanoporous composite materials of silicon and germanium, which have the potential to be used in semiconductors, thermoelectric materials, and electrochemical energy devices.

Furthermore, the use of sodium chloride did not affect the reaction in the creation of the nanostructures. Therefore, the simplicity and low cost of this reaction make scaling up the reaction to larger commercial levels much more feasible.