# Science Has Fun: From Thermophotovoltaic Conversion to the POMM Platform
Welcome to La Science s’aMuse, the science show co-produced by UM and Divergence-FM, which takes you on a tour of the Muse laboratory complex. 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 half of the show, Pascal Etienne from the Charles Coulomb Laboratory takes us to the Montpellier Optomicrofluidic Platform (POMM).
The study we’re 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 rather a technological milestone that enables a 1,000-fold increase in the electrical power density obtained from thermophotovoltaic conversion, derived from a surface at moderate temperatures (~450 °C). As you can see, today’s journey takes us into the intricacies of physics, where scientists are attempting to tackle a major challenge: harnessing energy from the surrounding 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 that it is possible to convert thermal radiation from a surface at moderate temperature into electrical power with an efficiency exceeding 10%. Their secret? Placing the emitting surface at a very, very short distance from the infrared photovoltaic cell, thereby circumventing Planck’s law. Confused? We’ll explain it all with Rodolphe Vaillon, a researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Electronics and Systems.
In the second half of the program, the “En salle des machines” segment takes you to the POMM platform—the Montpellier optomicrofluidics platform. 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, Photonics 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
Directed by: Bruno Bertrand
Tune in to the show “A LUM LA SCIENCE” on Divergence FM 93.9
