Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on September 15, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed September 15, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Here, the applicant asserts that Claim 1 is patentable because the prior art do not show or suggest the claim limitation “wherein said high-elasticity polymer comprises a polymer derived from a monomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl sulfite, sulfones, sulfides, nitriles, sulfates, silanes, and combinations thereof, wherein the sulfone or sulfide is selected from allyl sulfone, alkyl vinyl sulfone, aryl vinyl sulfone, methyl vinyl sulfone, ethyl vinyl sulfone, vinyl sulfide, a vinyl-containing variant of TTMS, MTrMS, TMS, EMS, MMES, EMES, EMEES, or a combination thereof:…”. Here, this argument has been fully considered but has not been found to be persuasive.
Here, upon further review of the cited prior art Pan, it is found that Pan discloses structure wherein said high-elasticity polymer comprises a polymer derived from a monomer which is a silane, disclosing structure wherein the monomer units may be silicone rubber or fluorosilicone rubber (Paragraph 0031, “silicone rubber (SI, Q, VMQ), fluorosilicone rubber (FVMQ),”), where said rubbers are alkylsilanes, and therefore are silanes.
Additionally, the applicant asserts that the amended Claim 4 is patentable as the combination of the prior references does not show or suggest the claim limitation “wherein said high elasticity polymer comprises a polymer derived from a monomer, wherein the monomer is a vinyl sulfone or sulfide selected from allyl methyl sulfide, phenyl vinyl sulfide, phenyl vinyl sulfoxide, allyl phenyl sulfone, allyl methyl sulfone, or a combination thereof.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 4 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument, where the feature discussed above is rejected over Pan in view of Park.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 7, 9, 11-24, and 30-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Pan (US PGPUB 20190280301).
Regarding Claim 1, Pan is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing structure of a composite particulate for a lithium battery (Abstract, “A method of producing a powder mass for a lithium battery,”), where said composite particulate comprises a inorganic filler with a diameter preferably less than 10 nm (Paragraph 0019, “Preferably, particles of this inorganic filler are in a form of nanoparticle, nanowire, nanofiber, nanotube, nanosheet, nanoplatelet, nanodisc, nanobelt, nanoribbon, or nanohorn having a dimension (diameter, thickness, or width, etc.) less than 100 nm, preferably less than 10 nm.”) as well as an encapsulating thin layer of elastomer with a thickness between 1 nm and 10 microns (Paragraph 0017, “wherein the encapsulating thin layer of inorganic filler-reinforced elastomer has a thickness from 1 nm to 10 μm”), as well as disclosing a specific embodiment which comprises Sn nanoparticles encapsulated with an elastomer shell (Paragraph 0183 “Nanoparticles (76 nm in diameter) of Sn were encapsulated with a thin layer of SBR shell”), which therefore inherently discloses a composite particulate which, between the thicknesses of the inorganic filler and the elastomer shell, must fall within the claimed range of a composite particle diameter of 10 nm to 50 microns.
Pan further discloses structure which comprises one or more anode active material particles in a suspension as to form a high-elasticity polymer matrix (Abstract, “(a) mixing an inorganic filler and an elastomer or its precursor in a liquid medium or solvent to form a suspension; (b) dispersing a plurality of particles of an anode active material in the suspension to form a slurry; and (c) dispensing the slurry and removing the solvent and/or polymerizing or curing the precursor to form the powder mass,”), or structured such as to be encapsulated by an elastomeric shell (Paragraph 0045, “wherein a particulate can contain one or several anode active material particles embraced/encapsulated by an elastomeric shell.”). Pan further discloses structure where the high elasticity polymer has a recoverable elastic strain of up to 800% (Paragraph 0021, “These sulfonated elastomers or rubbers, when present without graphene sheets, exhibit a high elasticity (having a fully recoverable tensile strain from 2% to 800%). In other words, they can be stretched up to 800% (8 times of the original length when under tension) and, upon release of the tensile stress, they can fully recover back to the original dimension.”), further disclosing that as the addition of additives reduce the tensile strain to 10-150 percent (Paragraph 0021, “By adding from 0.01% to 50% by weight of graphene sheets dispersed in a sulfonated elastomeric matrix material, the fully recoverable tensile strains are typically reduced down to 2%-500% (more typically from 5% to 300% and most typically from 10% to 150%).”), therefore disclosing structure wherein the initial pre-additive tensile strain is greater than 10 percent.
Additionally, Pan discloses a lithium ion conductivity greater than 10-7 S/cm when measured at room temperature (Paragraph 0020, “and a lithium ion conductivity from 10−7 S/cm to 5×10−2 S/cm (more typically from 10−5 S/cm to 10−3 S/cm) when measured at room temperature on a cast thin film 20 μm thick.”).
Additionally, in regards to the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure wherein the elastomer comprises a polymer derived from a monomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl sulfite, ethylene carbonate, sulfones, sulfide, nitriles, sulfates, silanes, and combinations thereof, Pan discloses structure wherein the monomer units may be silicone rubber or fluorosilicone rubber (Paragraph 0031, “silicone rubber (SI, Q, VMQ), fluorosilicone rubber (FVMQ),”), where said rubbers are alkylsilanes, and therefore are silanes.
Additionally, it is noted that in regards to the limitations directed to the identities of sulfones, sulfides, and nitriles, these limitations are presented in a form so as to further limit which sulfones, sulfides, or nitriles may be selected for the limitation which specifies that the monomer is selected from the group consisting of vinyl sulfite, ethylene carbonate, sulfones, sulfides, nitriles, sulfates, silanes, and combinations thereof, and does not necessarily require a sulfone, sulfide, or nitrile be present.
Regarding Claim 6, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Here, in regards to the limitation where the silane is selected from alkylsilane or liquid oligomeric siloxane, or a combination thereof, Pan discloses structure wherein the monomer units may be silicone rubber or fluorosilicone rubber (Paragraph 0031, “silicone rubber (SI, Q, VMQ), fluorosilicone rubber (FVMQ),”), where said rubbers are alkylsilanes.
Regarding Claim 7, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the elastic polymer contains a cross-linked network of chains (Paragraph 0120, “Some elastomers are originally in an unsaturated chemical state (unsaturated rubbers) that can be cured by sulfur vulcanization to form a cross-linked polymer that is highly elastic (hence, an elastomer)”) which are cross linked by a cross-linking agent (Paragraph 0124, “Elemental sulfur and organic accelerators (such as thiuram or thiocarbamates) can be used to cross-link butyl rubber to different extents as desired. Thermoplastic elastomers are also readily soluble in solvents.”), and which further has an elastic tensile strain of 10% to 150% (Paragraph 0020, “and most typically from 10% to 150%).”).
Regarding Claim 9, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 7. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the cross-linking agent is thiuram and thiocarbamate (Paragraph 0124, “Elemental sulfur and organic accelerators (such as thiuram or thiocarbamates) can be used to cross-link butyl rubber to different extents as desired. Thermoplastic elastomers are also readily soluble in solvents.”), where thiuram and thiocarbamates contain amine groups, thereby reading upon the structure of the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 11, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where said high-elasticity polymer contains between 0.01 to 50 percent by weight of graphene sheets (Paragraph 0021, “By adding from 0.01% to 50% by weight of graphene sheets dispersed in a sulfonated elastomeric matrix material,”). Additionally, Pan discloses that a lithium ion-conducting additive and graphene sheets collectively preferably occupy from 5 to 25 percent by weight (Paragraph 0034, “The sum of this additive and graphene sheets preferably occupies from 1% to 40% by weight, more preferably from 3% to 35% by weight, and most preferably from 5% to 25%”). Here, there is therefore inherently structure where the preferable embodiment comprises between 0.01 and 25 percent weight of graphene sheets, thereby reading upon the scope of the instant limitation.
Regarding Claim 12, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 11. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the material carbon material discussed In regards to Claim 11 is graphene sheets (Paragraph 0021, “By adding from 0.01% to 50% by weight of graphene sheets dispersed in a sulfonated elastomeric matrix material,”), and the carbon material forms a 3D network of electron conducting pathways that are in electronic contact with said anode materials, as depicted by Pan’s figure 4, which illustrates a three dimensional encapsulating shell of the conductive elastomer material, which therefore reads upon the structure of the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 13, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the anode active material is selected form the group consisting of (a) silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), phosphorus (P), bismuth (Bi), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and cadmium (Cd); (b) alloys or intermetallic compounds of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Ni, Co, or Cd with other elements; (c) oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, phosphides, selenides, and tellurides of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Fe, Ni, Co, V, or Cd, and their mixtures, composites, or lithium-containing composites; (d) salts and hydroxides of Sn; (e) lithium titanate, lithium manganate, lithium aluminate, lithium titanium niobium oxide, lithium-containing titanium oxide, lithium transition metal oxide, ZnCo204; (f) carbon or graphite particles (g) prelithiated versions thereof; and (h) combinations thereof. (Paragraph 0092, “The anode active material may be selected from the group consisting of…”)
Regarding Claim 14, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the anode active material is preintercalated to form a prelithiated material (Paragraph 0029, “Preferably, the anode active material, in the form of a nanoparticle, nanowire, nanofiber, nanotube, nanosheet, nanoplatelet, nanodisc, nanobelt, nanoribbon, or nanohorn is pre-intercalated or pre-doped with lithium ions to form a prelithiated anode active material having an amount of lithium from 0.1% to 54.7% by weight of said prelithiated anode active material.”), where the anode active material may be selected to include Si, Ge, Sn, as well as oxides of Sn Fe, V, Co, Ni (Paragraph 0092, “The anode active material may be selected from the group consisting of: (a) silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi), zinc (Zn), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and cadmium (Cd); (b) alloys or intermetallic compounds of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Ni, Co, or Cd with other elements; (c) oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, phosphides, selenides, and tellurides of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Zn, Al, Ti, Fe, Ni, Co, V, or Cd, and their mixtures, composites, or lithium-containing composites;”).
Regarding Claim 15, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the composite particulates are porous, as is depicted in Pan’s figure 4, which depicts the gaps/pores in between the anode active material particles.
Regarding Claim 16, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where one or a plurality of the composite particulate particles is coated with a layer of carbon dispose between said one or said plurality of particles and the high-elasticity polymer matrix (Paragraph 0027, “In some embodiments, one particle or a cluster of multiple particles may be coated with or embraced by a layer of carbon disposed between the particle(s) and the sulfonated elastomer/graphene composite layer (the encapsulating shell).”).
Regarding Claim 17, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses a general range of lithium ion conductivity within a range of 10-7 S/cm to 5x10-2- S/cm (Abstract, “and a lithium ion conductivity from 10−7 S/cm to 5×10−2 S/cm”), as well as specific embodiments in Pan’s table 2, which contains embodiments which fall within the range required by the instant claim, thereby reading upon the scope of the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 18, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the composite particulate of Claim 1 is further coated with or encapsulated by a shell of carbon material (Paragraph 0027, “In some embodiments, one particle or a cluster of multiple particles may be coated with or embraced by a layer of carbon disposed between the particle(s) and the sulfonated elastomer/graphene composite layer (the encapsulating shell).”).
Regarding Claim 19, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the high-elasticity polymer matrix or shell further comprises preferably 1% to 25% of an ion-conducting additive (Paragraph 0034, “The proportion of this lithium ion-conducting additive is preferably from 0.1% to 40% by weight, but more preferably from 1% to 25% by weight.”).
Regarding Claim 20, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein said high-elasticity polymer forms a mixture or co-polymer with an elastomer selected from natural polyisoprene, synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, ethylene propylene diene rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, polyacrylic rubber, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, perfluoroelastomers, polyether block amides, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate, thermoplastic elastomer, protein resilin, protein elastin, ethylene oxide-epichlorohydrin copolymer, polyurethane, urethane- urea copolymer, or a combination thereof (Paragraph 0021, “Preferably the elastomeric matrix material contains a sulfonated or non-sulfonated version of an elastomer selected from…”).
Regarding Claim 21, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein the elastic polymer as discussed in regards to Claim 1 contains a lithium ion-conducting adhesive dispersed therein wherein said lithium ion-conducting additive is selected from Li2CO3, Li20, Li2C204, LiOH, LiX, ROCO2Li, HCOLi, ROLi, (ROCO2Li)2, (CH20CO2Li)2, Li2S, LixSOy, or a combination thereof, wherein X = F, Cl, I, or Br, R = a hydrocarbon group, 0 < x ≤1, 1≤y≤4. (Paragraph 0032, “Wherein the lithium ion-conducting additive is selected from…”)
Regarding Claim 22, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the elastic polymer comprises a lithium ion conducting additive which includes lithium perchlorate, lithium hexafluorophosphate, lithium borofluoride, hexalfluoroarsenide, lithium trifluoro-methanesulfonate, bis-tirfluoromethyl sulfonylimide lithium, lithium bis(oxalato)borate, lithium oxalydifluoroborate, lithium oxalyldifluoroborate, lithium nitrate, Li-fluoroalkyl-phosphate, lithium bisperfluoroethylsulfonylimide, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, lithium bis (flurorosulfuonyl)imide, lithium trifluoromethanesulfonimide, ionic liquid-based lithium salts and combinations thereof (Paragraph 0049, “the lithium ion-conducting additive contains a lithium salt selected from…”)
Regarding Claim 23, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein the anode active material is lithiated to contain lithium ions up to a weight percentage of 54.68% (Paragraph 0093, “Lithium ions can be intercalated into non-Li elements (e.g. Si, Ge, and Sn) and compounds (e.g. SnO2 and Co3O4) up to a weight percentage of 54.68%”), thereby reading upon the instant range of 0.1% to 54.68%.
Regarding Claim 24, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where multiple composite particulates as discussed in regards to claim 1 are used as an anode material (Paragraph 0051, “The method may further comprise mixing multiple particulates of the aforementioned anode active material, a binder resin, and an optional conductive additive to form an anode electrode,”), and is further used in a lithium battery (Abstract, “ A method of producing a powder mass for a lithium battery,”).
Regarding Claim 30, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 24. Additionally, Pan discloses a lithium battery (Abstract, “A method of producing a powder mass for a lithium battery,”) comprising the anode as discussed in regards to claim 24, as well as a cathode and an electrolyte in ionic contact with said anode and said cathode (Paragraph 0042, “an electrolyte in ionic contact with the anode active material layer and the cathode active material layer”)
Regarding Claim 31, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 30. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the lithium battery as discussed in regards to Claim 30 is a has a lithium ion conductivity and functions though lithium intercalation (Abstract, “and a lithium ion conductivity from 10−7 S/cm to 5×10−2 S/cm and the inorganic filler has a lithium intercalation potential from 1.1 V to 4.5 V versus Li/Li+.”) and is therefore a lithium-ion battery.
Regarding Claim 32, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 31. Additionally, Pan discloses structure which includes a porous separator which separates and therefore electrically isolates the cathode and anode of the battery (Paragraph 0051, “The method may further comprise combining the anode electrode, a cathode electrode (positive electrode), an electrolyte, and an optional porous separator into a lithium battery cell.”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan (US PGPUB 20190280301 A1) as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Matsukawa (US PGPUB 20150051344 A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 7. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where a cross-linking agent is used to polymerize the elastomer (Paragraph 0120, “Some elastomers are originally in an unsaturated chemical state (unsaturated rubbers) that can be cured by sulfur vulcanization to form a cross-linked polymer that is highly elastic (hence, an elastomer)”). However, Pan fails to disclose a cross-linking agent which meets the limitation of the instant claim, and so we look to Matsukawa, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a polymer composition (Abstract, “An objective of the present invention is to provide an organic-inorganic hybrid acrylic polymer”), which makes use of cross-linking monomers which include acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, ethyl methacrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, and isobutyl acrylate (Paragraph 0077, “The monomer used for the present invention is preferably an acrylic monomer and/or a methacrylic monomer….”). Matsukawa further discloses that these monomers produce a polymerizable composition (Paragraph 0076, “The monomer used for the preparation of the polymerizable composition of the present invention”), which further is capable of undergoing cross linking (Paragraph 0091, “The cured product of the present invention can be produced by subjecting the polymerizable composition to a curing reaction or a cross-linking reaction.”), and which may be formed using a variety of treatment operations, including easy photopolymerization (Paragraph 0092, “The cured product is preferably produced by photopolymerization for easy treatment operations.”). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to apply these monomers of Matsukawa to the invention of Pan, thereby making obvious and reading upon the scope of the instant claim.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan (US PGPUB 20190280301 A1), in further view of Park (US 20200185775 A1).
Regarding Claim 4, Pan is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing structure of a composite particulate for a lithium battery (Abstract, “A method of producing a powder mass for a lithium battery,”), where said composite particulate comprises a inorganic filler with a diameter preferably less than 10 nm (Paragraph 0019, “Preferably, particles of this inorganic filler are in a form of nanoparticle, nanowire, nanofiber, nanotube, nanosheet, nanoplatelet, nanodisc, nanobelt, nanoribbon, or nanohorn having a dimension (diameter, thickness, or width, etc.) less than 100 nm, preferably less than 10 nm.”) as well as an encapsulating thin layer of elastomer with a thickness between 1 nm and 10 microns (Paragraph 0017, “wherein the encapsulating thin layer of inorganic filler-reinforced elastomer has a thickness from 1 nm to 10 μm”), as well as disclosing a specific embodiment which comprises Sn nanoparticles encapsulated with an elastomer shell (Paragraph 0183 “Nanoparticles (76 nm in diameter) of Sn were encapsulated with a thin layer of SBR shell”), which therefore inherently discloses a composite particulate which, between the thicknesses of the inorganic filler and the elastomer shell, must fall within the claimed range of a composite particle diameter of 10 nm to 50 microns.
Pan further discloses structure which comprises one or more anode active material particles in a suspension as to form a high-elasticity polymer matrix (Abstract, “(a) mixing an inorganic filler and an elastomer or its precursor in a liquid medium or solvent to form a suspension; (b) dispersing a plurality of particles of an anode active material in the suspension to form a slurry; and (c) dispensing the slurry and removing the solvent and/or polymerizing or curing the precursor to form the powder mass,”), or structured such as to be encapsulated by an elastomeric shell (Paragraph 0045, “wherein a particulate can contain one or several anode active material particles embraced/encapsulated by an elastomeric shell.”). Pan further discloses structure where the high elasticity polymer has a recoverable elastic strain of up to 800% (Paragraph 0021, “These sulfonated elastomers or rubbers, when present without graphene sheets, exhibit a high elasticity (having a fully recoverable tensile strain from 2% to 800%). In other words, they can be stretched up to 800% (8 times of the original length when under tension) and, upon release of the tensile stress, they can fully recover back to the original dimension.”), further disclosing that as the addition of additives reduce the tensile strain to 10-150 percent (Paragraph 0021, “By adding from 0.01% to 50% by weight of graphene sheets dispersed in a sulfonated elastomeric matrix material, the fully recoverable tensile strains are typically reduced down to 2%-500% (more typically from 5% to 300% and most typically from 10% to 150%).”), therefore disclosing structure wherein the initial pre-additive tensile strain is greater than 10 percent.
Additionally, Pan discloses a lithium ion conductivity greater than 10-7 S/cm when measured at room temperature (Paragraph 0020, “and a lithium ion conductivity from 10−7 S/cm to 5×10−2 S/cm (more typically from 10−5 S/cm to 10−3 S/cm) when measured at room temperature on a cast thin film 20 μm thick.”).
However, Pan is silent on structure wherein the high elasticity polymer comprises a polymer derived from a monomer, where the monomer is selected from vinyl sulfones or sulfides selected from ethyl vinyl sulfide, allyl methyl sulfide, phenyl vinyl sulfide, phenyl vinyl sulfoxide, allyl phenyl sulfone, allyl methyl sulfone, or a combination thereof, and wherein the vinyl sulfone does not include methyl ethylene sulfone and ethyl vinyl sulfone.
Therefore, we look to Park, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing a sulfone-containing protective film on the surface of an anode material (Paragraph 0037, “Further, the generation of gas at elevated temperature is understood to be primarily caused by decomposing an SEI film using a Ni.sup.3+ cation eluted from a cathode. Therefore, in order to overcome this problem, the electrolyte includes the sulfone-based compound represented by Formula 2, and a sulfone-containing protective film is formed on the surface of an anode, thereby preventing the decomposition of the SEI film to suppress the generation of gas at hot temperature.”) for the purpose of preventing gas production in the anode active material. Here, Park discloses that their sulfone-containing protective film is formed by allyl phenyl sulfone or allyl methyl sulfone (Paragraph 0050, “For example, the compound of Formula 2 may be divinyl sulfone, allyl phenyl sulfone, allyl methyl sulfone,”).
Here, Park further discloses the use of allyl phenyl sulfone in their examples 2-4 (Paragraph 0139, “A lithium secondary battery was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1, except that an electrolyte was prepared by adding 1 wt % of allyl phenyl sulfone,”), which demonstrates a significant reduction of the final gas generation and initial gas generation, shown in Park’s table 2, compared to their comparative examples.
Accordingly, based on these benefits of the reduction of gas generation, where said reduction of gas generation is a desirable result for the battery of Pan, where Pan discloses that their encapsulating shell has the goal of minimizing undesirable side reactions, where gas production is an undesirable side reaction (Paragraph “Due to the high elasticity of the encapsulating shell, the shell will not be broken into segments (in contrast to the broken carbon shell). That the inorganic filler reinforced elastomer shell remains intact prevents the exposure of the underlying Si to electrolyte and, thus, prevents the Si from undergoing undesirable reactions with electrolyte during repeated charges/discharges of the battery.”). Accordingly, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of the allyl phenyl sulfone of Park as a monomer in the high elasticity polymer of Pan, thereby reading upon and making obvious the limitations of the instant claim.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan (US PGPUB 20190280301 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of He (US PGPUB 20190393482 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, Pan anticipates the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where the polymer precursor which comprises monomers, oligomers, and an initiator, is polymerized and cured to form a cross-linked polymer (Paragraph 0109, “The polymer precursor (monomer or oligomer and initiator) is then polymerized and cured to form a lightly cross-linked polymer”). Here, Pan discloses the use of an initiator that induces polymerization, but is silent on the specific initiator compound that is used. Therefore, we look to He, which is an analogous art to the instant application. He discloses structure which includes a lithium secondary battery which further comprises anode protecting layers (Abstract, “The invention provides a method of improving the anode stability and cycle-life of a lithium metal secondary battery. The method comprises implementing two anode-protecting layers between an anode active material layer and an electrolyte or electrolyte/separator assembly.”) where the second anode protective layer is an elastomer (Abstract, “a second anode-protecting layer having a thickness from 1 nm to 100 μm and comprising an elastomer”).
He goes on to disclose that the process of forming the elastomer protective layer comprises polymerizing the polymer precursor which comprises a monomer or oligomer and an initiator (Paragraph 0109, “The polymer precursor (monomer or oligomer and initiator) is then polymerized and cured to form a lightly cross-linked polymer.”). Here, He further discloses that the initiator used to facilitate polymerization and cross linking is an azobisisobutyronitrile (Paragraph 0136, “Subsequently. 6 mg of the initiator 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile”). Here, He further discloses that the process of making use of this initiator further includes sealing/purging with argon for 30 minutes as well as heating to 68 degrees Celsius in an oil bath while constant stirring, and is then precipitated after 24 hours (Paragraph 0136, “Subsequently. 6 mg of the initiator 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN, Aldrich) were added (monomer/initiator ratio=825/1) and the flask was sealed and purged for 30 min with argon. The solution was then heated to 68° C. in an oil bath and left under constant stirring. After 24 h, the polymer was precipitated in hexane and cast into films.”). Here, these processes of using the azobisisobutyronitrile initiator are not complex and are achievable without considerable cost. Therefore, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator, thereby making obvious the limitations of the instant claim.
Conclusion
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/J.W.E./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/BASIA A RIDLEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725