Evaluating Sampling Materials for Atmospheric Volatile Organosulfur Compounds Measurement and Application in the Power Battery Recycling Industry

Volatile organosulfur compounds (VSCs) play significant roles in atmospheric chemistry and malodorous pollution. Accurate measurement of VSCs is challenging due to their high reactivity and adsorption tendencies, which are strongly influenced by sampling materials. This study comprehensively evaluates the performance of six types of sampling bags and passivated canisters for measuring nine VSCs. The results indicate that passivated canisters provide stable storage for all target VSCs for up to 7 days under dry conditions. Among the bags, polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) bags exhibited the lowest blank levels and preserved most VSCs (except disulfides) stably for 8 h. Field comparisons in a power battery recycling plant showed good agreement between PVF bag and canister measurements under dry conditions. However, in high-humidity stack gases, canisters showed severe losses of methanethiol and ethanethiol, likely due to humidity-driven conversion on metal surfaces, underscoring the necessity of drying humid-air samples. The application of these methods revealed significant VSCs emissions and distinct compositional profiles from power battery recycling processes, particularly pyrolysis drying, lithium leaching, and nickel–cobalt leaching processes, with concentrations of total VSCs reaching up to 1046.86 ppb. This work provides crucial guidance for selecting appropriate sampling methods for reliable VSCs measurement and offers the first emissions characteristics of VSCs from the power battery recycling industry, supporting future environmental monitoring and pollution control.