Solidion's Nuclear Pivot: Can Battery Tech Solve Reactor Corrosion?

DALLAS, TX – December 29, 2025 – Solidion Technology, a company primarily known for its advanced battery innovations, has secured a second major grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), signaling a significant strategic expansion into the high-stakes world of advanced nuclear energy. The funding will accelerate the development of a novel carbon-nanosphere material designed to combat a critical, decades-old challenge holding back next-generation nuclear reactors: corrosion.

The grant supports a collaboration with the prestigious Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to scale up the production of these microscopic carbon spheres. The goal is to create an anti-corrosive additive for the molten-salt-based fluids used to transfer heat in advanced nuclear designs. This move positions the Dallas-based technology firm as a potentially crucial player in making future nuclear power safer, more efficient, and commercially viable.

The Molten Salt Reactor's Achilles' Heel

For decades, nuclear engineers have pursued the promise of Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs). These advanced designs, part of the "Generation IV" of nuclear technology, operate at higher temperatures and lower pressures than conventional water-cooled reactors. This offers significant advantages, including higher thermal efficiency for electricity generation and inherent safety features that can prevent the kind of coolant-loss accidents seen in past nuclear incidents.

However, MSRs have a persistent Achilles' heel: the very molten salt that serves as their coolant. At extreme operating temperatures, these liquid salts are highly corrosive, capable of eating away at the structural metals of the reactor vessel, pipes, and heat exchangers. This degradation not only compromises the reactor's structural integrity but can also create metallic byproducts that clog systems and disrupt heat transfer. Unlike traditional reactors, a protective oxide layer cannot form on the metal surfaces, as the fluoride salts readily dissolve it.

This corrosion challenge has been a primary bottleneck since the earliest MSR experiments at Oak Ridge in the 1960s. Finding a cost-effective and reliable solution is widely seen as the key to unlocking the commercial potential of MSRs and other Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) that rely on similar technology.

A Nanoscale Solution to a Reactor-Sized Problem

Solidion's proposed solution operates at the atomic level. The DOE-funded project focuses on creating a "nanofluid"—an engineered colloidal suspension of hollow carbon nanoparticles within the conventional molten salt coolant. These carbon nanospheres, thousands of times smaller than a human hair, are prized for their high thermal conductivity, mechanical stability, and low density.

The theory is that dispersing these nanoparticles throughout the molten salt can achieve two critical objectives simultaneously. First, research has shown that nanofluids can dramatically enhance the thermophysical properties of the base fluid, increasing specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity. This means the coolant can carry more heat away from the reactor core more efficiently, boosting the plant's overall performance.

Second, the nanospheres are intended to act as an anti-corrosive agent. While the precise mechanisms are part of the ongoing research, the introduction of these inert carbon particles could potentially create a protective barrier at the metal-salt interface or alter the chemical environment to inhibit the corrosive reactions that degrade structural alloys. If successful, this technology could reduce the need for expensive, exotic alloys and extend the operational lifetime of reactor components, directly addressing the cost and safety hurdles facing MSR deployment.

From Batteries to Reactors: Solidion's Strategic Leap

For a company whose core business is next-generation batteries for AI data centers and electric vehicles, a foray into nuclear materials might seem like a dramatic pivot. However, a closer look at Solidion's history reveals deep expertise in the kind of advanced materials science that bridges both fields. The company holds a portfolio of over 525 patents, many related to novel carbon-based materials like biomass-derived graphite and graphene-enabled silicon anodes.

This is not the company's first high-profile collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory or its first acknowledgment from the DOE. Solidion previously won a prestigious 2025 R&D 100 Award—often called the "Oscars of Innovation"—for its work with ORNL on a technology called Electrochemical Graphitization in Molten Salts (E-GRIMS). It also secured a grant from the DOE's highly competitive Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop high-performance graphite from biomass, a project aimed at shoring up domestic supply chains for critical battery materials.

This track record demonstrates a proven capability in manipulating carbon materials in molten salt environments, the exact expertise required for its new nuclear venture.

"Consecutive awards from the Department of Energy is proof positive that Solidion is not only innovative in energy storage, but energy processes, liquids and materials as well," stated Jaymes Winters, Chief Executive Officer of Solidion Technology, in the company's press release. The move represents a calculated diversification, leveraging core competencies to enter the burgeoning advanced nuclear market, which is projected to grow to over $41 billion by 2030.

Fueling the Future: The DOE's Bet on Advanced Nuclear

Solidion's grant is part of a much larger, coordinated push by the U.S. government to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced nuclear power. Viewing next-generation reactors as essential for achieving both climate goals and national energy security, the Department of Energy has rolled out substantial funding programs to spur innovation and bridge the gap between research and commercialization.

Initiatives like the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) and a recent $900 million funding opportunity for SMRs are designed to help companies overcome the immense technical and financial hurdles of bringing new reactor designs to market. The DOE's strategy focuses on cost-shared partnerships with private industry to de-risk new technologies and establish a robust domestic supply chain for advanced nuclear components.

By funding targeted research into foundational challenges like corrosion, the DOE is placing calculated bets on enabling technologies that could benefit the entire advanced reactor industry. Solidion's project, aimed at a problem that affects multiple MSR and SMR designs, aligns perfectly with this strategy. A breakthrough in corrosion mitigation could dramatically lower the cost and improve the safety profile of reactors being developed by numerous companies, including key players like TerraPower, Kairos Power, and Terrestrial Energy, thereby accelerating the timeline for deploying clean, reliable nuclear power to the U.S. grid. The success of such fundamental materials science research is critical to realizing the promise of a nuclear energy renaissance.