# Science Fun: From thermophotovoltaic conversion to the POMM platform
Welcome to La Science s’aMuse, the science program co-produced by UM and Divergence-FM, which takes you on a cruise through the Muse laboratory archipelago. This week, Rodolphe Vaillon, a researcher atthe Montpellier Institute of Electronics and Systems (IES), shares his discoveries in the field of thermophotovoltaic conversion. In the second part of the program, Pascal Etienne from the Charles Coulomb Laboratory takes us to the Montpellier Optomicrofluidics Platform (POMM).
The study we are discussing today was hailed as "a milestone" at the international symposium on thermal innovations organized by MIT in 2020. No, we're not talking about the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, but a technological milestone that makes it possible to increase the electrical power density obtained from thermophotovoltaic conversion by a factor of 1,000, using a surface with a moderate temperature (~450°C). As you can see, today's journey takes us into the intricacies of physics, where scientists are attempting to meet a major challenge: recovering energy from the environment to develop carbon-free energy production without greenhouse gas emissions.
To meet this challenge, researchers atthe Montpellier Institute of Electronics and Systems (IES, CNRS/University of Montpellier) and the Lyon Center for Energy and Thermal Engineering (CETHIL, CNRS/INSA Lyon) have demonstrated the possibility of converting thermal radiation from a surface at moderate temperature into electrical power with an efficiency greater than 10%. Their secret? Bringing the emitting surface very close to the infrared photovoltaic cell, thereby circumventing Planck's law. Don't understand any of this? Rodolphe Vaillon, a researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Electronics and Systems, explains it all.
In the second part of the program, the En salle des machines segment takes you to the POMM platform for optomicrofluidics in Montpellier. Prototyping, additive microstructuring of hybrid materials, UV or visible laser irradiation, encapsulation... Pascal Etienne, head of the hybrid and nanostructured materials team at the Charles Coulomb Laboratory, explains how to manufacture an optomicrofluidic chip.
Learn more:
CNRS press release: Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Conversion with High Electrical Power Density and Cell Efficiency above 14%
. C. Lucchesi, D. Cakiroglu, J.-P. Perez, T. Taliercio, E. Tournié, P.-O. Chapuis, R. Vaillon, Nano Letters, asap (2021)
See also:
Thermophotovoltaics: PV cells for converting thermal radiation
C. Lucchesi, R. Vaillon, P.O. Chapuis, Photoniques 105, 37-40 (2020)
Science is fun, you've got the ticket, let's go!
Production: University of Montpellier/Divergence FM
Hosting and reporting: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault/Lucie Lecherbonnier
Direction: Bruno Bertrand
Listen to the program “A LUM LA SCIENCE” on Divergence FM 93.9
