24 girls between the ages of 14 and 18 responded to this call on the nationwide Girls’ Day on April 3, 2025 and visited the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Garching. There, they learned about what can be researched using neutrons first-hand from the female scientists.

When charged, the graphite anode in a Li-ion battery (LIB) can be exposed to temperature- driven changes, causing structural degradation and negatively affecting its performance. X-rays and neutrons help to reveal the underlying processes behind these changes.

In front of around 300 viewers in the live stream and on site at the Deutsches Museum, Dr. Michael Hofmann showed how indispensable research with neutrons is for the development of lighter, stronger materials that can be used at higher temperatures.