Science at theUM [S02-ep11]: From the Secrets of Batteries to the Geochemical Plateau

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

This week on *A l’UM * la science, Marie-Liesse Doublet of theICGM reveals the secrets of our batteries. Our report takes you to the geochemistry plateau with Michaël Bonno, a researcher at GM. Finally, Aurélie Lieuvin presents the Café & Video from the CNRS. The show airs on Divergence FM 93.9 every Wednesday at 6 p.m.

And to start things off, we’d like to wish you a very happy new year, of course, and hope that the holidays gave you a chance to recharge your batteries so you can start 2023 off right! To help you ease back into things, this first episode of the new year is all about batteries. Phones, computers, tablets, electric toothbrushes, razors, game consoles, cameras, lawn mowers, 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 in and unplugging a charger has become one of our most routine daily actions.  But have you ever wondered how a battery works? What happens when it’s charging? Or when it’s discharging? What magical processes lie behind that little icon showing a battery charging? That’s the question we’re exploring today.

In fact, a team of researchers from the Collège de France, the CNRS, the University of Rennes 1, and the University of Montpellier has developed a new method that allows scientists to observe the inside of a commercial battery in real time. It may not seem like much, but this is a major first, and the study was published in *Nature Energy*.

Our guest is Marie-Liesse Doublet, a researcher at the Charles Gerhardt Institute in Montpellier and, of course, a member of that team. She is also among the latest group of Academy of Sciences award winners.

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

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

At "UM : Science," here's the lineup—let's get started!

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

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

Keywords: InUM , science, Research, Science, Company