MAX phases are viewed as promising materials for the future, for example, in the power, aerospace and medical implants industries. A new method developed by scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich now makes it possible to produce this material class on an industrial scale for the first time. They report that a crust of salt protects the raw material from oxidation at a production temperature of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius—and can then simply be washed off with water. The method, which was recently published in the journal Nature Materials, can also be applied to other high-performance materials.