DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2 January 2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 8-20 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3 September 2025.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 2 January 2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 21 are amended; claim 5 is cancelled; claim 22 is added. Accordingly, claims 1-3 and 6-22 remain pending in the application with claims 1-3, 6-7, and 21-22 considered in this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-3, 6-7, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (“Preparation of Ti3C2 and Ti2C MXenes by fluoride salts etching and methane adsorptive properties”).
Regarding Claim 1, Liu discloses a method of adsorbing methane (methane meets the limitation of an analyte), comprising: using MXenes for methane adsorption (using MXenes for methane adsorption meets the limitation of contacting a MXene composition with the analyte, the contacting resulting in selective adsorption of the analyte to the MXene composition; pg. 784, Col. 2, par. 2). Liu further discloses the MXenes are in the form of a powders (pg. 782, Col. 1, par. 4).
Regarding Claim 2, Liu further discloses Ti3C2 and Ti2C MXenes (pg. 782, Col. 1, par. 4), such that the MXene formula of Ti3C2 and Ti2C of Liu meets the limitation of the formula Mn+1Xn where M is Ti, X is C, and n is 1 or 2.
Regarding Claim 3, Liu further discloses the outer surfaces of the exfoliated layers of the Ti2C MXenes are terminated with F and O groups (F and O groups meet the limitation of halide and oxide; pg. 785, Col. 2, par. 1, Fig. 8 a-d).
Regarding Claim 6, Liu further discloses the outer surfaces of the exfoliated layers of the Ti2C MXenes are terminated with F and O groups (pg. 785, Col. 2, par. 1, Fig. 8 a-d).
The Specification of the present application teaches surface terminations like fluorination (- F) or chlorination (-Cl) for preferential rejection of high abundance clutter molecules (water and hydrocarbons) [0011].
Therefore, the MXene composition of Liu with F surface terminations would inherently be configured so as to preferentially reject at least one of water and a hydrocarbon.
Regarding Claim 7, Liu further discloses the MXenes can adsorb natural gas (methane) under high pressure and release natural gas (release natural gas meets the limitation of releasing at least some of the analyte adsorbed to the MXene composition) under low pressure (low pressure meets the limitation of effecting conditions; pg. 785, Col. 1, par. 2).
Regarding Claim 22, Liu discloses a method of adsorbing methane using MXenes (pg. 784, Col. 2, par. 2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ciou (US 2022/0219993) as evidenced by Orhan (“Activity of Essential Oils and Individual Components against Acetyl- and Butyrylcholinesterase”) and further in view of Yotsuhashi (US 2012/0018311).
Regarding Claim 21, Ciou discloses a method of adsorbing an analyte, comprising [0072]: exposing a suitable material to an environment where the analyte is present, wherein the suitable material comprises MXenes (exposing MXenes to an environment where the analyte is present meets the limitation of contacting a MXene composition with the analyte; [0010]-[0011]), and wherein the analyte may be a volatile organic compound selected from one or more of α-pinene, 1-hexanol, a terpinol, and phenethyl alcohol [0076], resulting in the adsorption of volatile organic compounds (adsorption of volatile organic compounds meets the limitation of the contacting resulting in selective adsorption of the analyte to the MXene composition; [0073]).
Ciou is silent to the analyte being a nerve agent, a simulant, an opioid, a narcotic, a cholinesterase inhibitor, and a blood agent.
However, Orhan teaches α-pinene is a known acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE)) inhibitor (AChE and BChE are the two components of cholinesterase; pg. 550, Table II; pg. 549, Col. 2, par. 2), such that α-pinene meets the limitation of a cholinesterase inhibitor.
Ciou is silent to the MXene being in the form of a suspension, a powder, a gel, a fabric, a fiber, a monolith, or any combination thereof.
Ciou, however, compares the adsorption and desorption of N2 for a Ti3C2 MXene powder known in the art with the Ti3C2 MXene paper (aka thin film) of Ciou ([0092], [0128], Fig. 14, Table 2).
Yotsuhashi discloses an electrode for adsorption of CO2 [0036]. Yotsuhashi further discloses an electrode including a thin film of tantalum carbide (tantalum carbide meets the limitation of a MXene composition), and even with the use of an electrode in which tantalum carbide powder is supported on an electrode substrate, the same activity can be obtained as with the use of the thin film [0029].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ciou to incorporate the teachings of Yotsuhashi to use a MXene composition in the form of a powder to adsorb the analyte, because Ciou teaches the claimed invention except that MXene paper is used instead of MXene powder. Yotsuhashi teaches that the MXene paper/thin film and the MXene powder are equivalent products known in the art of adsorption using MXenes. Therefore, because the two products were art recognized equivalents at the time the invention was made, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute the MXene paper for the MXene powder.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see "Remarks", pg. 5, par. 2-3, filed 2 January 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3 and 5-7 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Liu (“Preparation of Ti3C2 and Ti2C MXenes by fluoride salts etching and methane adsorptive properties”).
Applicant’s arguments, see "Remarks", pg. 6, par. , filed 2 January 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 21 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Ciou (US 2022/0219993) as evidenced by Orhan (“Activity of Essential Oils and Individual Components against Acetyl- and Butyrylcholinesterase”).
Conclusion
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/S.E.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1735
/PAUL A WARTALOWICZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735