Science at UM [S02-ep11]: From the secrets of batteries to the geochemistry lab

[Podcast] - Published on January 12, 2023 in Science-Society, Valorization

This week on Science at UM, Marie-Liesse Doublet from theICGM reveals the secrets of our batteries. Our report takes you to the geochemistry lab with Michaël Bonno, a researcher at GM. Finally, Aurélie Lieuvin presents the Café & vidéo at the CNRS. A program broadcast on Divergence FM 93.9 every Wednesday at 6 p.m.

First of all, we would like to wish you a very happy new year and hope that the holidays have allowed you to recharge your batteries so that you can start 2023 in great shape! To help you ease back into things, this first episode of the new season is all about batteries. Phones, computers, tablets, toothbrushes, razors, game consoles, cameras, lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, drills, and now scooters, bikes, and cars... The list of battery-powered devices has grown steadily over the past few decades, to the point where plugging and unplugging chargers has become part of our daily routine.  But have you ever wondered how a battery works? What happens when it charges? When it discharges? What magical processes lie behind that little symbol of a battery charging? That's the question we're looking at today.

A team of researchers from the Collège de France, the CNRS, the University of Rennes 1, and the University of Montpellier have developed a new method that allows them to see inside a commercial battery in real time. It may not seem like much, but this is a major breakthrough, and the study has been published in Nature Energy.

Our guest is Marie-Liesse Doublet, a researcher at the Charles Gerhardt Montpellier Institute and, of course, a member of this team. She is also one of the latest recipients of the Academy of Sciences awards.

In the second part of the program, we head to Geosciences Montpellier, specifically to the geochemistry lab, where Michaël Bonno travels back in time to reconstruct the history of the Earth.

Finally, our last-minute guest is Aurélie Lieuvin, communications manager at CNRS Occitanie-Est, who is here to present the 2023 season of CNRS Café & Vidéo. The first event takes place on January 19 and is not to be missed.

At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier/ Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Production: Naomi Charmetan

Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9

Keywords: Science at UM, Research, Science, Company