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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed January 22, 2206 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Here, the applicant asserts that the Pan fails to disclose structure where the elastomer or rubber is selected from polysiloxane, a chemically substituted version thereof, a chemical derivative thereof, a sulfonated version thereof, or a combination thereof. This argument has been fully considered but is not persuasive.
Pan discloses structure wherein the elastomer or rubber is siloxane (Paragraph 0021, “silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber,”) or chemically substituted derivatives thereof, where silicone rubber is a common name for polysiloxane.
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) 1-4, 6-9, 11-13, and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan (US 20190280291 A1), in view of Zhamu (US 20190386337 A1), hereafter referred to as Zhamu-337.
Regarding Claim 1, Pan is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing structure which comprises an anode active material for a lithium battery which comprises multiple anode active material particles (Abstract, “Provided is a lithium battery anode electrode comprising multiple particulates of an anode active material,”) and a conductive additive that are substantially embedded in and bonded by a matrix resin (Abstract, “being encapsulated by a thin layer of inorganic filler-reinforced elastomer having from 0.01% to 50% by weight of an inorganic filler dispersed in an elastomeric matrix material”).
Additionally, in regards to the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure wherein the matrix resin has a recoverable tensile strain from greater than 1000% when measured without an additive or reinforcement in said polymer, Pan discloses the use of sulfonated elastomers which are a high elasticity polymer with a recoverable tensile strain from 2% to 1000% when measured without an additive or reinforcement in said polymer (Paragraph 0096, “An elastomer, such as a vulcanized natural rubber, can exhibit a tensile elastic deformation from 2% up to 1,000% (10 times of its original length).”), accordingly failing to disclose structure wherein the tensile strain is greater than 1000% under the conditions of the claim.
Therefore, we look to Zhamu-337, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing an anode active material layer for a lithium battery which comprises a matrix resin comprising a high-elasticity polymer (Abstract, “one or a plurality of sulfur-containing material particles being embraced or encapsulated by a thin layer of a conductive sulfonated elastomer composite having from 0.01% to 50% by weight of a conductive reinforcement material dispersed in a sulfonated elastomeric matrix material,”; Paragraph 0080, “A sulfonated elastomer is a high-elasticity material,”). Here, Zhamu-337 discloses that their sulfonated elastomer has a recoverable tensile strain from 2% to 1500% when measured without an additive or reinforcement (Paragraph 0049, “embraced or encapsulated by a thin layer of a sulfonated elastomer composite having a recoverable tensile strain from 2% to 1,500% when measured without an additive or reinforcement”). Here, where Pan further discloses that a problem experienced by anode active material particles is the formation of cracks in particles due to strain (Paragraph 0007, “presumably for the purpose of reducing the total strain energy that can be stored in a particle, which is a driving force for crack formation in the particle.”), it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to maximize the fully recoverable tensile strain to as great an extent as possible for the sulfonated elastomers, so as to mitigate and minimize the formation of cracks within the anode active material particle. Therefore, it would be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use a sulfonated elastomer with as high of a fully recoverable tensile strain as possible, thereby making obvious a fully recoverable tensile strain of 1,500% without additive or reinforcement.
Additionally, Pan discloses structure which comprises a lithium-ion conductivity of no less than 10-6 S/cm at room temperature (Paragraph 0185, “For thicker shells (e.g. 10 μm), a lithium ion conductivity at room temperature no less than 10−4 S/cm would be required.”).
Additionally, Pan discloses structure where said high-elasticity polymer consists of essentially an elastomer or rubber (Abstract, “being encapsulated by a thin layer of inorganic filler-reinforced elastomer”) forming a network of lithium ion conducting pathways, as depicted in Pan’s figure 4, where the elastomer shell 28 (Paragraph 0089, “an inorganic filler reinforced elastomer shell 28.”) which comprises a conductive additive (Paragraph 0088, “In certain preferred embodiments, the inorganic filler-reinforced elastomer further contains an electron-conducting filler dispersed in the elastomer matrix material”) connects and contacts multiple anode active material cores 18 (Paragraph 0089, “The third is a single-particle particulate containing an anode active material core 18 coated by a carbon layer 20 (or other conductive material) further encapsulated by an inorganic filler reinforced elastomer shell 22.”), thereby being in contact with the anode material particles. Accordingly, where the elastomer is characterized as containing an electron conducting filler (Paragraph 0088, In certain preferred embodiments, the inorganic filler-reinforced elastomer further contains an electron-conducting filler dispersed in the elastomer matrix material”), thereby acting to enable conductivity within the elastomer.
Here, Pan further discloses structure wherein the elastomer or rubber matrix acts to maintain the structural integrity of the anode, preventing interruption of the electron- and lithium ion-conducting pathways when the anode active material particles repeatedly expand and shrink in volume during battery cycling (Paragraph 0007, “the protective matrix provides a cushioning effect for particle expansion or shrinkage, and prevents the electrolyte from contacting and reacting with the electrode active material.”).
Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein the elastomer or rubber is siloxane (Paragraph 0021, “silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber,”) or chemically substituted derivatives thereof, where silicone rubber is a common name for polysiloxane.
Regarding Claim 3, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, pan discloses structure wherein said high-elasticity polymer contains a lithium salt dispersed or dissolved in the elastomer or rubber (Paragraph 0033, “In some embodiments, the inorganic filler-reinforced elastomer further contains a lithium ion-conducting additive dispersed in a sulfonated elastomer matrix material, wherein the lithium ion-conducting additive contains a lithium salt”).
Regarding Claim 4, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 3. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein the lithium salt is selected from lithium perchlorate (LiClO4), lithium nitrate (LiNO3), lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), lithium borofluoride (LiBF4), lithium hexafluoroarsenide (LiAsF6), lithium trifluoro- metasulfonate (LiCF3SO3), bis-trifluoromethyl sulfonylimide lithium (LiN(CF3SO2)2), lithium bis(oxalato)borate (LiBOB), lithium oxalyldifluoroborate (LiBF2C2O4), lithium oxalyldifluoroborate (LiBF2C204), lithium nitrate (LiNO3), Li-Fluoroalkyl-Phosphates (LiPF3(CF2CF3)3), lithium bisperfluoro-ethysulfonylimide (LiBETI), lithiumbis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide, lithium bis(fluorosulphonyl)imide, lithium trifluoromethanesulfonimide (LiTFSI), an ionic liquid lithium salt, Li2CO3, Li2O, Li2C204,LiGH, LiX, ROCO2Li, HCOLi, ROLi, (ROCO2Li)2, (CH20CO2Li)2, Li2S, LixSOy, wherein X = F, Cl, I, or Br, R = a hydrocarbon group, x = 0-1, y = 1-4, or a combination thereof (Paragraph 0033, “wherein the lithium ion-conducting additive contains a lithium salt selected from lithium perchlorate (LiClO4), lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), lithium borofluoride (LiBF4), lithium hexafluoroarsenide (LiAsF6), lithium trifluoro-metasulfonate, (LiCF3SO3), bis-trifluoromethyl sulfonylimide lithium (LiN(CF3SO2)2), lithium bis(oxalato)borate (LiBOB), lithium oxalyldifluoroborate (LiBF2C2O4), lithium oxalyldifluoroborate (LiBF2C2O4), lithium nitrate (LiNO3), Li-fluoroalkyl-phosphates, (LiPF3(CF2CF3)3), lithium bisperfluoro-ethysulfonylimide (LiBETI), lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide, lithium bis(fluorosulphonyl)imide, lithium trifluoromethanesulfonimide (LiTFSI), ionic liquid-based lithium salts, and combinations thereof.”).
Regarding Claim 6, modified Pan makes obvious the structure of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein the elastomeric matrix material is reinforced by means of graphene sheets dispersed therein (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%).”), further disclosing a specific preference for a weight range content of 5 to 25 percent by weight (Paragraph 0034, “and most preferably from 5% to 25% by weight of the resulting composite weight (the elastomer matrix, electron-conducting additive, and lithium ion-conducting additive combined).”).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Pan makes obvious the structure of Claim 6. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where said graphite, graphene or carbon material is selected from graphene sheets (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%).”), or polymeric carbon, amorphous carbon, CVD carbon, coal tar pitch, petroleum pitch, mesophase pitch, carbon black, coke, acetylene black, and activated carbon (Paragraph 0028, “coke, acetylene black, activated carbon”)
Regarding Claim 8, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure where said anode active material is selected from selected from 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,; (f) carbon or graphite particles (g) prelithiated versions thereof; and (h) combinations thereof (Paragraph 0024, “In this anode electrode, the anode active material is 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; (d) salts and hydroxides of Sn; (e) lithium titanate, lithium manganate, lithium aluminate, lithium-containing titanium oxide, lithium transition metal oxide; (f) prelithiated versions thereof; (g) particles of Li, Li alloy, or surface-stabilized Li having at least 60% by weight of lithium element therein; and (h) combinations thereof.”).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein said anode active material contains a prelithiated Si, prelithiated Ge, prelithiated Sn, prelithiated SnOx, prelithiated SiOx, prelithiated iron oxide, prelithiated V205, prelithiated V308, prelithiated C0304, prelithiatedNi304, or a combination thereof, wherein x is 1 to 2 (Paragraph 0025, “In some preferred embodiments, the anode active material contains a prelithiated Si, prelithiated Ge, prelithiated Sn, prelithiated SnOx, prelithiated SiOx, prelithiated iron oxide, prelithiated VO2, prelithiated Co3O4, prelithiated Ni3O4, or a combination thereof, wherein x=1 to 2.”), wherein said anode active material is lithiated to contain from 0.1% to 54.7% by weight of lithium (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.”).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein one or a plurality of said particles is coated with a layer of carbon or graphene disposed between said one or said plurality of particles and said high elasticity polymer (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 12, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein said high-elasticity polymer is mixed with an electron conducting polymer selected from polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyfuran, a bi-cyclic polymer, a sulfonated derivative thereof, or a combination thereof. (Paragraph 0035, “In certain preferred embodiments, the elastomeric matrix material may contain a mixture or blend of a sulfonated elastomer and an electron-conducting polymer selected from polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyfuran, a bi-cyclic polymer, derivatives thereof (e.g. sulfonated versions of these electron-conducting polymers), or a combination thereof.”_
Regarding Claim 13, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure wherein the elastomer or rubber forms a mixture with a lithium ion-conducting polymer selected from poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), Polypropylene oxide (PPO), poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF), Poly bis-methoxy ethoxyethoxide-phosphazene, Polyvinyl chloride, Polydimethylsiloxane, poly(vinylidene fluoride)-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP), a sulfonated derivative thereof, or a combination thereof (Paragraph 0036, “In some embodiments, the elastomeric matrix material contains a mixture or blend of a sulfonated elastomer and a lithium ion-conducting polymer selected from poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), polypropylene oxide (PPO), poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly bis-methoxy ethoxyethoxide-phosphazene, polyvinyl chloride, polydimethylsiloxane, poly(vinylidene fluoride)-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP), a sulfonated derivative thereof, or a combination thereof.”).
Regarding Claim 15, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, Pan discloses structure which comprises a lithium battery comprising the anode of claim 1, a cathode, and an electrolyte in ionic contact with said anode and said cathode (Paragraph 0042, “The present disclosure also provides a lithium battery containing an optional anode current collector, the presently disclosed anode electrode as described above, a cathode active material layer or cathode electrode, an optional cathode current collector, an electrolyte in ionic contact with the anode active material layer and the cathode active material layer and an optional porous separator.”)
Regarding Claim 16, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of claim 15. Additionally, Pan discloses structure which further includes an ion conducting separator (Paragraph 0042, “an electrolyte in ionic contact with the anode active material layer and the cathode active material layer and an optional porous separator.”), where they disclose a porous separator made ionically conductive through its impregnation with an electrolyte.
Claim(s) 10 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan (US 20190280291 A1) and Zhamu-337 (US 20190386337 A1), as applied to Claim 1 above, in further view of Zhamu (US 20200313170 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, in regards to the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure where the anode active material particle is porous, Pan is silent in regards to the porosity of the anode active material particle. Therefore, we look to Zhamu, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing structure which comprises an anode particulate for a lithium battery (Abstract, “Provided is graphene-embraced anode particulate for a lithium battery,”), further disclosing structure which comprises a porous anode active material particle (Paragraph 0030, “In certain preferred embodiments, anode active material particles are porous having surface pores, internal pores, or both surface and internal pores.”). Here, Zhamu discloses that the porous structure of the anode active material particles allows for the particle to expand without a significant overall volume increase of the particulate, which also prevents significant volume expansion of the entire anode electrode (Paragraph 0073, “These pores of the primary particles allow the particle to expand into the free space without a significant overall volume increase of the particulate and without inducing any significant volume expansion of the entire anode electrode.”). Accordingly, where minimizing expansion of materials within an electrode is a desirable attribute, it would therefore be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of porous particles for the anode active material of Pan, thereby making obvious the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure where the anode active material particle is porous.
Regarding Claim 14, modified Pan makes obvious the invention of Claim 1. Additionally, in regards to the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure where the anode active material particle is porous, Pan is silent in regards to the porosity of the anode active material particle. Therefore, we look to Zhamu, which is an analogous art to the instant application, disclosing structure which comprises an anode particulate for a lithium battery (Abstract, “Provided is graphene-embraced anode particulate for a lithium battery,”), further disclosing structure which comprises a porous anode active material particle (Paragraph 0030, “In certain preferred embodiments, anode active material particles are porous having surface pores, internal pores, or both surface and internal pores.”). Here, Zhamu discloses that the porous structure of the anode active material particles allows for the particle to expand without a significant overall volume increase of the particulate, which also prevents significant volume expansion of the entire anode electrode (Paragraph 0073, “These pores of the primary particles allow the particle to expand into the free space without a significant overall volume increase of the particulate and without inducing any significant volume expansion of the entire anode electrode.”). Accordingly, where minimizing expansion of materials within an electrode is a desirable attribute, it would therefore be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art to make use of porous particles for the anode active material of Pan, thereby making obvious the limitation of the instant claim which requires structure where the anode active material particle is porous.
Additionally, Zhamu discloses structure where the porosity of said anode active material particles is most preferably 50% (Paragraph 0066, “…The pores in the core have a total volume Vp, wherein the Vp/Va ratio is preferably and typically from 0.1/1.0 to 10/1.0 (preferably from 0.5/1.0 to 5.0/1.0 and further preferably at least 1.0/1.0).”).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/J.W.E./Examiner, Art Unit 1725
/BASIA A RIDLEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1725