Early detection of lithium battery leakage using a highly sensitive in situ ZIF-8 membrane-coated micro-nano optical fibre

Detecting electrolyte leakage is an effective early warning approach for abnormal faults in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and can help mitigate safety risks such as fires and explosions. However, detecting electrolyte leakage in the early stages of LIB faults presents a significant challenge, as leaks in LIBs produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at parts per million levels that are difficult to detect using conventional VOC sensors. Here, an effective LIB VOC sensor using micro-nano optical fibres (MNFs) has been developed for the first time, coated with an in situ self-assembled zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) membrane as an electrolyte-sensitive layer. The abundance of pores in ZIF-8 is excellent for adsorbing a variety of VOCs, including diethyl carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, and propylene carbonate. The MNFs possess high refractive index sensitivity, enhancing the online monitoring of electrolytes. MNFs with a diameter of approximately 7 μm were assembled with four-cycle ZIF-8 of approximately 500 nm thickness, as the fabricated sensor. Through wavelength demodulation, the LIB sensor demonstrated high sensitivity, detecting 43.6 pm/ppm of VOCs and exhibiting rapid response and recovery times of typically within 10 min and 23 s, respectively, as well as a low theoretical detection limit of 2.65 ppm for dimethyl carbonate vapor with excellent reversibility. The first on-site verification of online LIB leakage monitoring demonstrated that the sensor achieved a 35 h early warning prior to full-load leakage, thus exhibiting promising prospects for applications in scenarios such as car batteries.