High Response and Selectivity of the SnO2 Nanobox Gas Sensor for Ethyl Methyl Carbonate Leakage Detection in a Lithium-Ion battery

It is well-known that metal-oxide semiconductors (MOS) have significant gas sensing activity and are widely used in harmful gas monitoring in various environments. With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, the monitoring of the gas composition and concentration in LIB has become an effective way to avoid safety problems. However, the study of typical electrolyte solvent detection, such as EMC and DMC detection by the MOS sensor, is still in its infancy. Here, the SnO2 nanoboxes are synthesized by coordination dissolution using cubic Cu2O as the template, and its sensor shows high sensitivity (0.27 to 10 ppb EMC), excellent response (32.46 to 20 ppm EMC), and superior selectivity. Additionally, the sensor possesses fast and clear response to lithium-ion battery (LIB) leakage simulation tests, suggesting that it should be a promising candidate for LIB safety monitors. These sensing performances are attributed to large specific surface area, small grain size, and high size/thickness ratio of nanoboxes. More importantly, DFT calculations confirm the adsorption of EMC on the surface of the SnO2 nanoboxes, and the EMC decomposition processes catalyzed by SnO2 are deduced by in situ FTIR and GC-MS.