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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/20/2026 has been entered.
Response to amendments
The amendments filed 10/01/2025 have been entered. Accordingly claims 1-3, 5-12 and 14-20 remain pending.
Response to arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/01/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant firstly argues (page 6-8):
“In the foregoing amendment, all independent claims have been amended to recite that the porous membrane has a tensile strength in a range of 80 MPa to 85 MPa.
The amendment is support by at least the text found at paragraph [0037] of the published application. As mentioned in paragraph [0037], such tensile strength provides suitable mechanical properties to the porous membrane and in turn, the thermal material that comprises such porous membrane.
Due to these suitable mechanical properties, the thermal material can adapt to diverse needs, such as coating onto (or wrapping around) articles to adjust their apparent temperature which is not particularly limited by the article's shape (see e.g., Example 4 of the specification, beginning at paragraph[0126]).
Omer teaches the use of a porous membrane made from polyethylene. A person skilled in the art would appreciate that polyethylene generally has a moderate tensile strength. In The Science and Engineering of Materials, 6th edition (see https://amupturnedworld wordpress.com/wp-conent/uploads/2016/06/askeland-the-science-andaengineering-of-materials.pdf), it is described on page 626 that polyethylene has a maximum tensile strength of 5500 psi which is equivalent to about 38 MPa. This is far lower than the minimum tensile strength of 80 MPa as required by the amended claims.
Omer does not teach or suggest the significance of the tensile strength of the porous membrane. Therefore, a person skilled in the art would not find any motivation from Omer to use a porous membrane of a different material having the suitable tensile strength as defined in the amended claims.
Sadhna teaches various applications of reduced graphene oxide. Sadhna makes no reference to any suitable mechanical properties of porous membranes, less to the specific tensile strength as defined in the amended claims. Therefore, Sadhna does not remedy the deficit of Omer.
Similarly, Garrido teaches the use of a porous membrane but does not teach or suggest any suitable mechanical properties thereof. Therefore, Garrido does not remedy the deficits of Omer or Sadhna.
In light of the foregoing, independent claims 1, 11, 15, and 18 are patentable over the cited art. Claims 2, 3, and 5-10 depend from claim 1, claims 12 and 14 depend from claim 11, claims 16 and 17 depend from claim 15, and claims 19 and 20 depend from claim 18. The dependent claims are patentable for at least the same reasons as the independent claims.
In rejecting dependent claim 6, the examiner cited Lin. Lin lists several materials that can be used to form a porous membrane, including glass fiber, regenerated cellulose, etc.
However,Lin does not provide any rationale for selecting a suitable porous membrane and hence, it appears that the materials listed are merely arbitrarily selected. Accordingly, a person skilled in the art would not find any teaching or guidance from Lin on suitable mechanical properties of the porous membrane or on the specific tensile strength defined in the amended claims.
Therefore, Lin does not remedy the deficits of Omer, Sadhna, or Garrido.”
However Examiner respectfully disagrees because in the application of the thermal camouflage by Omer, it is anticipated to high stress situations such as space (“In conclusion, we have developed a new class of active thermal surfaces capable of efficient real-time electrical-control of their thermal emission over the full infrared spectrum. We showed that emissivity of multilayer graphene electrodes can be controlled electrically between 0.8 down to 0.3 with a bias voltage less than 4 V. Using these active surfaces, we have demonstrated adaptive camouflage systems that can disguise hot surfaces as cold and cold ones as hot in a thermal imaging system. Simplicity of the layered device structure together with the efficient modulation over broad IR spectrum (from 2 to 25 μm) provides an unprecedented ability for adaptive thermal camouflage. These active surfaces are flexible which enable their integration with nonplanar surfaces, such as soft robotic systems. (2) Fabricating these devices on strained elastomers could provide possibilities for stretchable camouflage devices. Furthermore, these devices can operate at high temperatures and under high vacuum conditions due to low vapor pressure of the ionic liquids enabling us to monitor the intercalation process using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Our results provide a significant step for realization of adaptive thermal management, which could enable new technologies, not only for thermal camouflage but also for adaptive IR optics and adaptive heat shields for satellites.” (page 6, last paragraph column 1 into column 2)) such that increasing strength would be obvious under Routine Optimization where someone with ordinary skill in the art would anticipate increasing the strength of the membrane to address said high stress (see MPEP 2144.05 II. B.) Omer partially address the stress by providing use of substrate having high tensile strength of heat resistive nylon, “(a) Schematic drawing of the active thermal surface consisting of a multilayer-graphene electrode, a porous polyethylene membrane soaked with a RTIL, and a back gold-electrode coated on heat resistive nylon.” (call out of figure 1). High temperature Nylon (PA 6, PA 66, PA 46) having an MPA range of 80-185.
Park 243’ as newly cited, anticipates that strength may be a predictable result by using a membrane material of polyethersulfone “the polymer membrane may include at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), sulfonated polethersulfone (SPES), polyurethane (PU), and polytetrafluoroethylen (PTFE).” [0055] emphasis to strength as value “Because the nonwoven membrane has a high mechanical strength but has a large pore size between individual fibers, small-sized particles are not separated, and use of the nonwoven fabric is limited due to lack of a special function.” [0005], Polyethersulfone (PES) having a tensile strength of up to 87 MPa.
Therefore the rejection is maintained.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7-12 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Omer (NPL) in view of Sadhna (NPL), Garrido (US 2022/0144644) and Park (US 2020/001243).
Regarding claim 1, Omer discloses a thermal material comprising:
(a) an electrode (graphene and gold act as electrodes to either side of the thermal material “(a) Schematic drawing of the active thermal surface consisting of a multilayer-graphene electrode, a porouspolyethylene membrane soaked with a RTIL, and a back gold-electrode coated on heat resistive nylon.” (page 2, top of page, -description of figure 1));
(b) a film of
(c) a porous membrane (“Polyethylene membrane”, abbreviated “PE”, see figure 1 at subsections a and b) that is sandwiched between the electrode and the film of b of figure 1), wherein the porous membrane has a tensile strength
(d) an ionic liquid (abbreviated as “IL” in figure 1 subsections a and b) that is disposed within pores of the porous membrane (as shown in subsection b of figure 2).
Omer is silent regarding the graphene being reduced graphene oxide.
However Sadhna teaches the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission ( “Graphene oxide possesses 2-D structure and various oxygen functionalities such as hydroxyl, epoxy, carbonyl and carboxyl groups on its basal plane and on the edges. These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph))
The advantage of the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission is to enhance optical pass through of an optical electrode while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle “These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer and Sadhna before him or her, to modify the graphene of Omer to include the reduced graphene oxide of Sadhna, because it is known to replace graphene with reduced graphene oxide in the art of optical electrodes to enhance optical transmission while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle.
Omer is silent regarding wherein the membrane as a tensile strength of 80-85MPa
However it would be obvious under Routine Optimization (see MPEP 2144.05 II. B.) to increase a membranes tensile strength because the application of the thermal camouflage of Omer is anticipated to high stress situations such as space (“In conclusion, we have developed a new class of active thermal surfaces capable of efficient real-time electrical-control of their thermal emission over the full infrared spectrum. We showed that emissivity of multilayer graphene electrodes can be controlled electrically between 0.8 down to 0.3 with a bias voltage less than 4 V. Using these active surfaces, we have demonstrated adaptive camouflage systems that can disguise hot surfaces as cold and cold ones as hot in a thermal imaging system. Simplicity of the layered device structure together with the efficient modulation over broad IR spectrum (from 2 to 25 μm) provides an unprecedented ability for adaptive thermal camouflage. These active surfaces are flexible which enable their integration with nonplanar surfaces, such as soft robotic systems. (2) Fabricating these devices on strained elastomers could provide possibilities for stretchable camouflage devices. Furthermore, these devices can operate at high temperatures and under high vacuum conditions due to low vapor pressure of the ionic liquids enabling us to monitor the intercalation process using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Our results provide a significant step for realization of adaptive thermal management, which could enable new technologies, not only for thermal camouflage but also for adaptive IR optics and adaptive heat shields for satellites.” (page 6, last paragraph column 1 into column 2)) Omer begins to address the stress demand by providing predictable result of material selection having high tensile strength of heat resistive nylon, “(a) Schematic drawing of the active thermal surface consisting of a multilayer-graphene electrode, a porous polyethylene membrane soaked with a RTIL, and a back gold-electrode coated on heat resistive nylon.” (call out of figure 1). High temperature Nylon (PA 6, PA 66, PA 46) having an MPA range of 80-185.
Park provides anticipation that strength as a desired quality may be imparted to a membrane material by selecting a membrane of polethersulfone (PES) “the polymer membrane may include at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), sulfonated polethersulfone (SPES), polyurethane (PU), and polytetrafluoroethylen (PTFE).” [0055] emphasis to strength as value “Because the nonwoven membrane has a high mechanical strength but has a large pore size between individual fibers, small-sized particles are not separated, and use of the nonwoven fabric is limited due to lack of a special function.” [0005]. Polyethersulfone (PES) having a known tensile strength of 87 MPa.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Park before him or her, to modify the graphene on membrane of Omer where strength is a desired attribute, to include the high strength PES membrane of Park, because it is known within the art of thermal camouflage to select materials that predictably increase strength and it is known within the art of membranes that PES is of high value in strength.
Regarding claim 2, Omer discloses the thermal material of claim 1, Omer further discloses wherein the electrode comprises gold (gold as shown in figure 1), copper, silver, titanium, platinum, tungsten or combinations thereof.
Regarding claim 3, Omer discloses the thermal material of claim 1, Omer further discloses wherein the electrode has a thickness in the range of 10 nm to 2000 nm (thickness of the gold electrode layer is exampled to 25 μm “We placed the PE membrane on the gold coatednylon. “To fabricate thegold electrode, we evaporated 5 nm Ti adhesive layer and 100nm Au layer on 25 μm thick heat resistive nylon using thermal” (last paragraph of page 6 to first paragraph page 7) however optimization of any electrode thickness is inherently relative to thickness enabling current, thickness of electrode is further anticipated in view of the reflective nature of the gold and the ability to reduce background radiation such that changes to thickness would be obvious under Routine Optimization (see MPEP 2144.05 II. Routine Optimization) -support to requirements of the thermal camouflages environment in reducing background radiation/providing reflectance as applicable to gold electrode “The thermal radiation emitted by the device mainly originates from the top graphene electrode because the emissivity of gold-coated substrate is very low (<0.01) due to its highly reflective nature and IR transparency of the PE membrane. The gold electrode also prevents transmission of the background thermal radiation. Figure 1b illustrates the working principle of the active thermal surface.” (page 2, column 1, second paragraph)).
Regarding claim 5, Mer as modified teaches the thermal material of claim 1, Omer as modified is silent regarding wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide has a thickness in the range of 100 nm to 2000 nm
However Garrido teaches wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide has a thickness in the range of 100 nm to 2000 nm (20nm-5000nm layer thickness anticipated “the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films of the disclosure have a total thickness from 20 nm to 5 micrometer.” [0070]).
The advantage of wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide has a thickness in the range of 100 nm to 2000 nm, is to provide single layer rGO electrodes for electronics, the single layer rGO electrode exhibiting low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, of a film that is highly porous “The inventors have developed stable thin films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) comprising a stack of rGO flakes, which show a significantly increased electrochemical active surface area compared to an atomic monolayer of carbon (single layer graphene). As a result, these rGO films are capable of providing high charge injection properties in an efficient and consistent manner for the duration of its functional lifetime. These graphene materials may be used in the fabrication of electronic devices, such as microelectrodes, which exhibit low interfacial impedance (Z), extremely high charge injection limit (CIL), and outstanding stability. These rGO films are highly porous.” [0013].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Garrido before him or her, to modify the rGO of Omer to include single layer rGO of Garrido, because the single layer rGO electrode provides to electronics a low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, of a film that is highly porous.
Regarding claim 7, Omer as modified teaches the thermal material of claim 1, Omer as modified is silent regarding wherein the porous membrane has a pore size in the range of 10 nm to 1000 nm.
However it would be obvious to provide the membrane with any range of porosity within the finite range of porosities that permit ionic flow (and or filtering of graphene oxide therethrough as modified by Garrido in claim 12) while at an upper end of porosity performing retention of the ionic fluid, see MPEP 2144.05 II. B. Routine Optimization.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and in view further view of Garrido, to provide the porosity of the porous membrane to between 10nm and 1000nm, because the porosity of membrane can only functionally exist within a finite range between a lower end of porosity that is permitting to flow of ionic fluid or graphene oxide (Garrido) and at an upper end of porosity that permits the retention of ionic fluid between electrodes, the porosity’s being functional through a finite range that is obvious to routine experimentation.
Regarding claim 8, Omer as modified teaches the thermal material of claim 1, Omer as modified is silent regarding wherein the porous membrane has a thickness of at least 10 pm.
However it would be obvious to provide the thickness of the porous membrane to at least 10pm in view of MPEP 2144.05 II. B. Routine Optimization, because the range of thickness of the porous membrane is necessarily selected from the finite range of a minimum thickness that allows operation of an amount of ionic fluid to move from porous medium to graphene layer to effectively perform thermal transmissivity regulation (“we introduce a new gating scheme using an inverse device structure, which leads intercalation of a nonvolatile ionic liquid into graphene layers from the porous substrate.” (page 2, first paragraph)) and at a maximum thickness of diminishing returns to thermal transmissivity in view of application as a light weight coating to flexible environment (“The demonstrated devices are light (30 g/m2), thin (<50 μm), and ultraflexible, which can conformably coat their environment.” (abstract)).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified, to provide the thickness of the porous membrane to 10pm or more, because the porous membrane size can only functionally exist within a finite range, of which a minimum is based on ionic fluid capacity of the graphene layer and a maximum is based on diminishing returns and the devices functionality of which are obvious to routine experimentation.
Regarding claim 9, Omer discloses the thermal material of claim 1, Omer further discloses wherein the ionic liquid is 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (DEME being 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate is included to ionic liquid “Fabrication of Active Thermal Surfaces. After the transferprocess, we injected room-temperature ionic liquid electrolyte[DEME][TFSI] (98.5%, diethylmethyl(2-methoxyethyl)-ammoniumbis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide,” (page 6, last paragraph)).
Regarding claim 10, Omer discloses the thermal material of claim 1, Omer futher discloses wherein the electrode and the porous membrane are flexible (“The demonstrated devices are light (30 g/m2), thin (<50 μm), and ultraflexible, which can conformably coat their environment.” (abstract)).
Regarding claim 11, Omer discloses a method of preparing a thermal material, comprising the steps of:
(a) disposing a film of
(b) adding an electrode (gold, figure 1) on a second side of the porous membrane (as shown in figure 1b), the second side being opposite to the first side of the porous membrane (as shown in figure 1b); and
(c) filling pores of the porous membrane with an ionic liquid (IL figure 1).
Omer is silent regarding the graphene being reduced graphene oxide.
However Sadhna teaches the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission ( “Graphene oxide possesses 2-D structure and various oxygen functionalities such as hydroxyl, epoxy, carbonyl and carboxyl groups on its basal plane and on the edges. These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph))
The advantage of the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission is to enhance optical pass through of an optical electrode while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle “These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer and Sadhna before him or her, to modify the graphene of Omer to include the reduced graphene oxide of Sadhna, because it is known to replace graphene with reduced graphene oxide in the art of optical electrodes to enhance optical transmission while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle.
Omer is silent regarding wherein the membrane as a tensile strength of 80-85MPa
However it would be obvious under Routine Optimization (see MPEP 2144.05 II. B.) to increase a membranes tensile strength because the application of the thermal camouflage of Omer is anticipated to high stress situations such as space (“In conclusion, we have developed a new class of active thermal surfaces capable of efficient real-time electrical-control of their thermal emission over the full infrared spectrum. We showed that emissivity of multilayer graphene electrodes can be controlled electrically between 0.8 down to 0.3 with a bias voltage less than 4 V. Using these active surfaces, we have demonstrated adaptive camouflage systems that can disguise hot surfaces as cold and cold ones as hot in a thermal imaging system. Simplicity of the layered device structure together with the efficient modulation over broad IR spectrum (from 2 to 25 μm) provides an unprecedented ability for adaptive thermal camouflage. These active surfaces are flexible which enable their integration with nonplanar surfaces, such as soft robotic systems. (2) Fabricating these devices on strained elastomers could provide possibilities for stretchable camouflage devices. Furthermore, these devices can operate at high temperatures and under high vacuum conditions due to low vapor pressure of the ionic liquids enabling us to monitor the intercalation process using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Our results provide a significant step for realization of adaptive thermal management, which could enable new technologies, not only for thermal camouflage but also for adaptive IR optics and adaptive heat shields for satellites.” (page 6, last paragraph column 1 into column 2)) Omer begins to address the stress demand by providing predictable result of material selection having high tensile strength of heat resistive nylon, “(a) Schematic drawing of the active thermal surface consisting of a multilayer-graphene electrode, a porous polyethylene membrane soaked with a RTIL, and a back gold-electrode coated on heat resistive nylon.” (call out of figure 1). High temperature Nylon (PA 6, PA 66, PA 46) having an MPA range of 80-185.
Park teaches that strength as a desired quality may be imparted to a membrane material by selecting a membrane of polethersulfone (PES) “the polymer membrane may include at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), sulfonated polethersulfone (SPES), polyurethane (PU), and polytetrafluoroethylen (PTFE).” [0055] emphasis to strength as value “Because the nonwoven membrane has a high mechanical strength but has a large pore size between individual fibers, small-sized particles are not separated, and use of the nonwoven fabric is limited due to lack of a special function.” [0005]. Polyethersulfone (PES) having a known tensile strength of 87 MPa.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Park before him or her, to modify the graphene on membrane of Omer where strength is a desired attribute, to include the high strength PES membrane of Park, because it is known within the art of thermal camouflage to select materials that predictably increase strength and it is known within the art of membranes that PES is of high value in strength.
Regarding claim 12, the method of claim 11, wherein the disposing step (a) comprises:
(a1) filtering a dispersion of graphene oxide through the porous membrane to form a film of graphene oxide on the porous membrane; and
(a2) reducing the film of graphene oxide to form a film of reduced graphene oxide.
However Garrido teaches (a1) filtering a dispersion of graphene oxide through the porous membrane to form a film of graphene oxide on the porous membrane; and
(a2) reducing the film of graphene oxide to form a film of reduced graphene oxide.
The advantage of (a1) filtering a dispersion of graphene oxide through the porous membrane to form a film of graphene oxide on the porous membrane; and
(a2) reducing the film of graphene oxide to form a film of reduced graphene oxide, is to provide electrodes for electronics that exhibit low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, and a film that is highly porous “The inventors have developed stable thin films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) comprising a stack of rGO flakes, which show a significantly increased electrochemical active surface area compared to an atomic monolayer of carbon (single layer graphene). As a result, these rGO films are capable of providing high charge injection properties in an efficient and consistent manner for the duration of its functional lifetime. These graphene materials may be used in the fabrication of electronic devices, such as microelectrodes, which exhibit low interfacial impedance (Z), extremely high charge injection limit (CIL), and outstanding stability. These rGO films are highly porous.” [0013] and transparent “In one embodiment, optionally in combination with one or more features of the various embodiments described above or below, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) film has a total thickness from 500 to 2000 nm or from 25 nm to 1 micrometer, or from 25 to 500 nm, or from 25 to 200 nm. This thickness results in a transparent material and provides a further advantage in some applications since the interface between the transparent electrode and the tissue can be observed by optical techniques.” [0071].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Garrido before him or her, to modify the rGO of Omer to include single layer rGO processing steps of Garrido, because the single layer rGO provides electrodes for electronics that exhibit low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, and a film that is highly porous and transparent.
Regarding claim 14, Omer discloses the method of claim 11, Omer further discloses wherein the filling step (c) is undertaken by exposing the porous membrane to the ionic liquid (as shown in figure 1b).
Regarding claim 15, Omer discloses a method of changing an article's apparent temperature, comprising the steps of:
(a) coating a surface of the article with a thermal material (thermal material applied as coating to article “The demonstrated devices are light (30 g/m2), thin (<50 μm), and ultraflexible, which can conformably coat their environment.” (abstract)), the thermal material comprising:
(i) an electrode (gold, figure 1);
(ii) a film of
(iii) a porous membrane (PE, figure 1) that is sandwiched between the electrode and the film of reduced graphene oxide (as shown in figure 1), wherein the porous membrane has a tensile strength
(iv) an ionic liquid (IL, figure 1) that is disposed within pores of the porous membrane (as shown in figure 1); and
(b) applying a bias voltage (electrical circuit between graphene and gold electrodes shown in figure 1) between the electrode of the thermal material and the film of
Omer is silent regarding the graphene being reduced graphene oxide.
However Sadhna teaches the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission ( “Graphene oxide possesses 2-D structure and various oxygen functionalities such as hydroxyl, epoxy, carbonyl and carboxyl groups on its basal plane and on the edges. These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph))
The advantage of the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission is to enhance optical pass through of an optical electrode while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle “These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer and Sadhna before him or her, to modify the graphene of Omer to include the reduced graphene oxide of Sadhna, because it is known to replace graphene with reduced graphene oxide in the art of optical electrodes to enhance optical transmission while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle.
Omer is silent regarding wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide comprises a plurality of single-layered reduced graphene oxide.
However Garrido teaches wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide comprises a plurality of single-layered reduced graphene oxide (plurality of single layer flakes of rGO “stable thin films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) comprising a stack of rGO flakes” [0013] and or rGO as part of single layer graphene “In order to improve the capacitive properties of the rGO films of the disclosure, they can be optionally attached to additional conductive materials or supports, such as a Single Layer Graphene (SLG)” [0022]).
The advantage of wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide comprises a plurality of single-layered reduced graphene oxide, is to provide electrodes for electronics that exhibit low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, and a film that is highly porous “The inventors have developed stable thin films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) comprising a stack of rGO flakes, which show a significantly increased electrochemical active surface area compared to an atomic monolayer of carbon (single layer graphene). As a result, these rGO films are capable of providing high charge injection properties in an efficient and consistent manner for the duration of its functional lifetime. These graphene materials may be used in the fabrication of electronic devices, such as microelectrodes, which exhibit low interfacial impedance (Z), extremely high charge injection limit (CIL), and outstanding stability. These rGO films are highly porous.” [0013] and transparent “In one embodiment, optionally in combination with one or more features of the various embodiments described above or below, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) film has a total thickness from 500 to 2000 nm or from 25 nm to 1 micrometer, or from 25 to 500 nm, or from 25 to 200 nm. This thickness results in a transparent material and provides a further advantage in some applications since the interface between the transparent electrode and the tissue can be observed by optical techniques.” [0071].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Garrido before him or her, to modify the rGO of Omer to include single layer rGO of Garrido, because the single layer rGO provides electrodes for electronics that exhibit low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, and a film that is highly porous and transparent.
Omer is silent regarding wherein the membrane as a tensile strength of 80-85MPa
However it would be obvious under Routine Optimization (see MPEP 2144.05 II. B.) to increase a membranes tensile strength because the application of the thermal camouflage of Omer is anticipated to high stress situations such as space (“In conclusion, we have developed a new class of active thermal surfaces capable of efficient real-time electrical-control of their thermal emission over the full infrared spectrum. We showed that emissivity of multilayer graphene electrodes can be controlled electrically between 0.8 down to 0.3 with a bias voltage less than 4 V. Using these active surfaces, we have demonstrated adaptive camouflage systems that can disguise hot surfaces as cold and cold ones as hot in a thermal imaging system. Simplicity of the layered device structure together with the efficient modulation over broad IR spectrum (from 2 to 25 μm) provides an unprecedented ability for adaptive thermal camouflage. These active surfaces are flexible which enable their integration with nonplanar surfaces, such as soft robotic systems. (2) Fabricating these devices on strained elastomers could provide possibilities for stretchable camouflage devices. Furthermore, these devices can operate at high temperatures and under high vacuum conditions due to low vapor pressure of the ionic liquids enabling us to monitor the intercalation process using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Our results provide a significant step for realization of adaptive thermal management, which could enable new technologies, not only for thermal camouflage but also for adaptive IR optics and adaptive heat shields for satellites.” (page 6, last paragraph column 1 into column 2)) Omer begins to address the stress demand by providing predictable result of material selection having high tensile strength of heat resistive nylon, “(a) Schematic drawing of the active thermal surface consisting of a multilayer-graphene electrode, a porous polyethylene membrane soaked with a RTIL, and a back gold-electrode coated on heat resistive nylon.” (call out of figure 1). High temperature Nylon (PA 6, PA 66, PA 46) having an MPA range of 80-185.
Park teaches that strength as a desired quality may be imparted to a membrane material by selecting a membrane of polethersulfone (PES) “the polymer membrane may include at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), sulfonated polethersulfone (SPES), polyurethane (PU), and polytetrafluoroethylen (PTFE).” [0055] emphasis to strength as value “Because the nonwoven membrane has a high mechanical strength but has a large pore size between individual fibers, small-sized particles are not separated, and use of the nonwoven fabric is limited due to lack of a special function.” [0005]. Polyethersulfone (PES) having a known tensile strength of 87 MPa.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Park before him or her, to modify the graphene on membrane of Omer where strength is a desired attribute, to include the high strength PES membrane of Park, because it is known within the art of thermal camouflage to select materials that predictably increase strength and it is known within the art of membranes that PES is of high value in strength.
Regarding claim 16, Omer discloses the method of claim 15, Omer further discloses wherein the bias voltage is 3 V (3v operation at “However, at 3 V the emissivity of the device is significantly suppressed, which screens the background temperature profile (Movie S1).” (page 2, second column first paragraph)).
Regarding claim 17, Omer discloses the method of claim 15, Omer further discloses further comprising a step of reversing the bias voltage to drive anions of the ionic liquid to the electrode (reverse charge imbalancing “When we apply negative bias voltage, thecharge imbalance is reversed (Figure 3d).” (page 4, first paragraph)).
Regarding claim 18, Omer discloses a device comprising:
(a) an article (article of environment/article to which thermal device is placed/coated to “The demonstrated devices are light (30 g/m2), thin (<50 μm), and ultraflexible, which can conformably coat their environment.” (abstract));
(b) a thermal material coated on a surface of the article (as disclosed above (abstract)), the thermal material comprising:
(i) an electrode (Gold, figure 1);
(ii) a film of
(iii) a porous membrane (PE, figure 1) that is sandwiched between the electrode and the film of reduced graphene oxide, wherein the porous membrane has a tensile strength
(iv) an ionic liquid (IL, figure 1) that is disposed within pores of the porous membrane (as shown in figure 1); and
(c) a power supply (power supply of electric circuit electrodes (gold/MLG) as shown in figure 1) connected to the thermal material (as shown in figure 1).
Omer is silent regarding the graphene being reduced graphene oxide.
However Sadhna teaches the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission ( “Graphene oxide possesses 2-D structure and various oxygen functionalities such as hydroxyl, epoxy, carbonyl and carboxyl groups on its basal plane and on the edges. These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph))
The advantage of the use of reduced graphene oxide in replacement to graphene in applications of electrodes and light transmission is to enhance optical pass through of an optical electrode while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle “These functionalities make GO dispersible in water. GO is inexpensive, can be synthesized without any hassle and is easy to handle. The electrical conductivity of GO is low, but being optically transparent, it can be used as a good current collector in solar cells. The conductivity of GO is practically improved by the removal of oxygen functionalities which is attained by the reduction of graphene oxide. For large-scale application in energy devices, rGO can be used as a suitable alternative because of the ease of its synthesis and mass production compared to pristine graphene.” (Introduction, 3rd paragraph).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer and Sadhna before him or her, to modify the graphene of Omer to include the reduced graphene oxide of Sadhna, because it is known to replace graphene with reduced graphene oxide in the art of optical electrodes to enhance optical transmission while being inexpensive, easy to synthesize and easy to handle.
Omer is silent regarding wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide comprises a plurality of single-layered reduced graphene oxide.
However Garrido teaches wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide comprises a plurality of single-layered reduced graphene oxide (plurality of single layer flakes of rGO “stable thin films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) comprising a stack of rGO flakes” [0013] and or rGO as part of single layer graphene “In order to improve the capacitive properties of the rGO films of the disclosure, they can be optionally attached to additional conductive materials or supports, such as a Single Layer Graphene (SLG)” [0022]).
The advantage of wherein the film of reduced graphene oxide comprises a plurality of single-layered reduced graphene oxide, is to provide electrodes for electronics that exhibit low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, and a film that is highly porous “The inventors have developed stable thin films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) comprising a stack of rGO flakes, which show a significantly increased electrochemical active surface area compared to an atomic monolayer of carbon (single layer graphene). As a result, these rGO films are capable of providing high charge injection properties in an efficient and consistent manner for the duration of its functional lifetime. These graphene materials may be used in the fabrication of electronic devices, such as microelectrodes, which exhibit low interfacial impedance (Z), extremely high charge injection limit (CIL), and outstanding stability. These rGO films are highly porous.” [0013] and transparent “In one embodiment, optionally in combination with one or more features of the various embodiments described above or below, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) film has a total thickness from 500 to 2000 nm or from 25 nm to 1 micrometer, or from 25 to 500 nm, or from 25 to 200 nm. This thickness results in a transparent material and provides a further advantage in some applications since the interface between the transparent electrode and the tissue can be observed by optical techniques.” [0071].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Garrido before him or her, to modify the rGO of Omer to include single layer rGO of Garrido, because the single layer rGO provides electrodes for electronics that exhibit low interfacial impedance, extremely high charge injection limit, outstanding stability, and a film that is highly porous and transparent.
Omer is silent regarding wherein the membrane as a tensile strength of 80-85MPa
However it would be obvious under Routine Optimization (see MPEP 2144.05 II. B.) to increase a membranes tensile strength because the application of the thermal camouflage of Omer is anticipated to high stress situations such as space (“In conclusion, we have developed a new class of active thermal surfaces capable of efficient real-time electrical-control of their thermal emission over the full infrared spectrum. We showed that emissivity of multilayer graphene electrodes can be controlled electrically between 0.8 down to 0.3 with a bias voltage less than 4 V. Using these active surfaces, we have demonstrated adaptive camouflage systems that can disguise hot surfaces as cold and cold ones as hot in a thermal imaging system. Simplicity of the layered device structure together with the efficient modulation over broad IR spectrum (from 2 to 25 μm) provides an unprecedented ability for adaptive thermal camouflage. These active surfaces are flexible which enable their integration with nonplanar surfaces, such as soft robotic systems. (2) Fabricating these devices on strained elastomers could provide possibilities for stretchable camouflage devices. Furthermore, these devices can operate at high temperatures and under high vacuum conditions due to low vapor pressure of the ionic liquids enabling us to monitor the intercalation process using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Our results provide a significant step for realization of adaptive thermal management, which could enable new technologies, not only for thermal camouflage but also for adaptive IR optics and adaptive heat shields for satellites.” (page 6, last paragraph column 1 into column 2)) Omer begins to address the stress demand by providing predictable result of material selection having high tensile strength of heat resistive nylon, “(a) Schematic drawing of the active thermal surface consisting of a multilayer-graphene electrode, a porous polyethylene membrane soaked with a RTIL, and a back gold-electrode coated on heat resistive nylon.” (call out of figure 1). High temperature Nylon (PA 6, PA 66, PA 46) having an MPA range of 80-185.
Park provides anticipation that strength as a desired quality may be imparted to a membrane material by selecting a membrane of polethersulfone (PES) “the polymer membrane may include at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), sulfonated polethersulfone (SPES), polyurethane (PU), and polytetrafluoroethylen (PTFE).” [0055] emphasis to strength as value “Because the nonwoven membrane has a high mechanical strength but has a large pore size between individual fibers, small-sized particles are not separated, and use of the nonwoven fabric is limited due to lack of a special function.” [0005]. Polyethersulfone (PES) having a known tensile strength of 87 MPa.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Park before him or her, to modify the graphene on membrane of Omer where strength is a desired attribute, to include the high strength PES membrane of Park, because it is known within the art of thermal camouflage to select materials that predictably increase strength and it is known within the art of membranes that PES is of high value in strength.
Regarding claim 19, Omer discloses the device of claim 18, Omer further discloses wherein the article, the thermal material and the power supply are integral parts of the device (the article and thermal material are anticipated to be in use as a single unit system “which can conformably coat their environment. In addition, by combining active thermal surfaces with a feedback mechanism, we demonstrate realization of an adaptive thermal camouflage system which can reconfigure its thermal appearance and blend itself with the varying thermal background in a few seconds.” (abstract), single unit system are obvious to integral construction of components, see MPEP 2144.04 V, B. Making Integral).
Regarding claim 20, Omer discloses the device of claim 18, wherein the power supply applies a bias voltage (nature of power supplies) between the electrode of the thermal material and the film of reduced graphene oxide (as shown by symbols “+” and “-” of figure 1a) of the thermal material to drive anions of the ionic liquid to the film of reduced graphene oxide (as shown in figure 1b).
Claims 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Omer, Sadhna, Garrido and Park as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of LIN (US 2020/0203675).
Regarding claim 6, Omer as modified teaches the thermal material of claim 1, Omer as modified is silent regarding wherein the porous membrane comprises polyethersulfone.
However Lin provides that the use of PE and PES membranes in use with ionic liquids/electrodes are known equivalently interchangeably (see MPEP 2144.06 II. Substituting Equivalents Known for the Same Purpose “Set forth herein are methods for manufacturing a metal-ion battery including providing an metal anode; providing a cathode; and providing an ionic liquid electrolyte”…“a polyester membrane or a polyethersulfone membrane, or other hydrophobic membrane, such as polyethylene membrane,” [0151]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Omer as modified and Lin before him or her, to modify PE (polyethylene) membrane of Omer, with the PES (polyethersulfone) membrane of Lin, because both PE and PES membranes are known equivalently exchangeable for use as membranes dealing with ionic fluids and electrodes.
Conclusion
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/Spencer H. Kirkwood/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/STEVEN W CRABB/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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