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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-17 are currently pending.
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.
Claims 1, 5-7, 9-10 & 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (WO 2019/239631 A1, and hereinafter using, for citation purposes, corresponding US 2021/0020988 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 5-7 & 9, Chen teaches a solid electrolyte comprising a porous silica having a plurality of pores interconnected; and an electrolyte comprising a metal salt and at least one selected from the group consisting of an ionic compound and a bipolar compound and at least filling an interior of the plurality of pores, wherein the porous silica comprises a polyethylene oxide structure comprising more than 3 ether groups and 35 or less ether groups (i.e based on the number average molecular weight of samples 3a-3c in [0173]-[0175] for polyethylene glycol) on a surface thereof as a surface adsorption layer and the plurality of pores have a diameter ranging from 2 nm or more to 80 nm or less ([0035]-[0048]). While Chen is silent as to an average pore diameter of the porous silica, it is noted that the minimum diameter of pores can be set to 20 nm or more (still within Chen’s range) which would result in an average pore diameter within the range of 20 nm to 80 nm.
Regarding claim 10, Chen teaches the solid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein the porous silica has a porosity of 25 vol% to 90 vol% ([0038]). However, when the porosity is set from 70 vol% to 90 vol%, the ionic liquid (equated to the presently claimed ionic compound) which fills the pores of the porous silica will be present at 70 vol% to 90 vol% which reads on the presently claimed range.
Regarding claims 12-14, Chen teaches a power storage device comprising a positive electrode comprising an active material and the solid electrolyte of claim 1, a negative electrode, and the solid electrolyte layer of claim 1 disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode ([0027]-[0032] & [0129]-[0130]).
Regarding claim 15, Chen teaches a method of producing a solid electrolyte comprising: preparing a liquid mixture by mixing a precursor of a porous dielectric such as a silicon alkoxide and a polyether compound; an ionic compound such as an ionic liquid; a metal salt; water and an organic solvent; and forming a solid electrolyte by causing gelation of the liquid mixture to form a gel mixture and drying the gel mixture ([0079]-[0098]). Since the adsorption layer of Chen is bonded to the surface of the porous silica, the polyether compound can be fairly interpreted as a precursor of the porous dielectric.
Claims 2 & 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 2021/0020988 A1) in view of Akbari (“Synthesis of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafted silica nanoparticles with a minimum adhesion of proteins via one-pot one-step method”).
Regarding claims 2 & 4, Chen teaches the solid electrolyte of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach the polyether structure being bonded to a metal atom forming the porous dielectric. However, Chen teaches that the surface adsorption layer can be bonded to the porous silica as shown in figs. 2 & 19. While fig. 19 of Chen discloses a surface adsorption layer comprising both water and the polyether structure, it is noted that Chen more broadly teaches that the surface adsorption layer can include any of the two components. Thus, when the surface adsorption layer consists of the polyether structure, the polyether structure is directly bonded to the porous silica. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art recognizes that polyethylene glycol, which is the polyether structure used in Chen’s exemplary embodiments, can be bonded to silica via a covalent bond in which the polyether structure is covalently bonded to a Si atom of the silica as evidenced by Akbari (Figs 1-2).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 2021/0020988 A1) in view of Sakatani (US 2017/0203971 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Chen teaches the solid electrolyte of claim 1 but is silent as to the porous dielectric having a specific surface are of 300 m2/g or more and 1000 m2/g or less. However, Sakatani teaches a porous silica made from a sol-gel process, similarly to Chen’s solid electrolyte, wherein the porous silica has a porosity of 86 vol% or more and a specific surface area of more than 300 m2/g (Fig. 4; [0032]-[0038], [0125] & [0129]). Accordingly, Chen’s solid electrolyte would be expected to possess a specific surface area of more than 300 m2/g for porosities at the higher end of Chen’s range of 25 vol% to 90 vol%.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 8 & 16-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Chen does not fairly teach or suggest one end of the polyether structure being bonded to a metal atom forming the porous dielectric and another end of the polyether structure being bonded to another metal atom of the porous dielectric. Chen does not fairly teach or suggest a molar ratio of the polyether structure to a metal atom forming the porous dielectric being 1% or more and 15% or less. Chen does not fairly teach or suggest the metal alkoxide having the polyether structure.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANAEL T ZEMUI whose telephone number is (571)272-4894. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm (EST).
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/NATHANAEL T ZEMUI/Examiner, Art Unit 1727