At this year’s MINT Festival, held from September 16–18, 2025, our team offered exciting insights into the world of electrochemistry – the science behind how batteries work. This science festival transformed the Ernst-Abbe-Platz campus in Jena into an interactive discovery space for students of all ages – from primary school to high school – as well as for curious visitors of all backgrounds.
As part of the festival, HIPOLE Jena and the FSU Schubert Group guided participants through hands-on experiments that illustrated both the basic concepts and cutting-edge developments in battery technology.
Visitors had the chance to see firsthand how different metal combinations produce varying voltages, learn about the fundamental structure of a battery, and even become part of a “finger battery” themselves.
We also gave an outlook on forward-looking technologies: explaining polymer-based batteries and introducing the concept of redox flow batteries, which are considered especially promising for large-scale storage of renewable energy.
Our core message was simple:
Whether it’s a “finger battery” or a high-tech energy system – the basic principle remains the same: a chemical reaction transfers electrons from one material to another, generating electrical energy.
