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 .
The pending claims are claims 1-23.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9-14, 16-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dussarrat et al., US 2024/0102161.
Regarding claim 1, Dussarrat et al., teaches a method of producing multiple particles of silicon oxide (0436) SiOx (0293; 0446), where 0 < x < 2 (0293; 0446), said method comprising:(a) preparing (i) a plurality of silicon alloy particles (0436), MySi, wherein M is a metal (0293; 0436) or non-metal element present on a surface of a silicon particle (0293) or in the interior of a silicon particle or preparing (ii) a mixture of multiple Si particles and multiple M-containing particles (0419); wherein M is selected from Al, Fe, Zn, Sn, Cu, Mn, Ni, Ti, V, Cr, Co, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Au, Cd, Li, Na, K, Be, Mg, Ca, B, C, Ge, Ga, In, Sb, Bi, N, P, Pb, Se, S, or a combination thereof, (0293) and y is selected from 0.001 to 4.4 (0293);(b) heating (0434-0435; 0497) said (i) silicon alloy particles (0436) or (ii) mixture of multiple Si particles and multiple M-containing particles (0436) to a first temperature for a first period of time (0093-0125) to form (iii) a plurality of composite particles (0295) or (iv) a mixture of a plurality of composite particles and multiple M- containing particles (0093-0125), wherein a composite particle comprises a layer of silicon dioxide, SiO2 (0293; 0446), at least partially covering or encapsulating an underlying silicon alloy (0436); (c) heating (0434-0435; 0497) (iii) the plurality of composite particles (0295) or (iv) the mixture to a second temperature (0093-0125) under a vacuum (0442) or protective inert atmosphere (0442) for a second duration of time (0442), allowing the silicon dioxide to react with the underlying silicon alloy or silicon core of a composite particle to form a substantially silicon oxide particle, SiOx, (0293; 0436; 0446), having M dispersed therein (0293; 0436) and vaporizing said silicon oxide to a vapor state (0421; 0439); and(d) cooling the silicon oxide vapor (0434; 0449; 0481) to form solid silicon oxide (0421; 0449; 0461) and using mechanical means to make said solid silicon oxide into multiple particles of silicon oxide containing M therein (0429; 0461).
Regarding claim 2, Dussarrat et al., teaches method of producing multiple particles of silicon oxide (0436) SiOx, where 0 < x < 2, (0293; 0446), said method comprising: (a) preparing a plurality of silicon particles (0436); (b) heating said silicon particles (0434-0435; 0497) to a first temperature for a first period of time (0093-0125) to form a plurality of composite particles (0093-0125), wherein a composite particle (0295) comprises a layer of silicon dioxide, SiO2, (0293; 0446), at least partially covering or encapsulating an underlying silicon (0436); (c) heating the plurality of composite particles to a second temperature (0434-0435; 0497) under a vacuum (0442) or protective inert atmosphere (0442) for a second duration of time (0434-0435; 0497), allowing the silicon dioxide to react with the underlying silicon of a composite particle to form a silicon oxide particle (0293; 0436; 0446), and vaporizing said silicon oxide to a vapor state (0421; 0439); (d) introducing a stream of a precursor gas (0429; 0439-0442) containing an element M to mix and react with the silicon oxide vapor to form vapor of M-containing silicon oxide (0421; 0439), wherein M is a metal or non-metal element selected from Al, Fe, Zn, Sn, Cu, Mn, Ni, Ti, V, Cr, Co, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Au, Cd, Li, Na, K, Be, Mg, Ca, B, C, Ge, Ga, In, Sb, Bi, N, P, Pb, Se, S, or a combination thereof (0293), and M is present on a surface of a silicon oxide particle or in the interior of a silicon oxide and the atomic ratio of M-to-Si in the M-containing silicon oxide is selected from 0.001 to 4.4; and (e) cooling the M-containing silicon oxide vapor to form M-containing solid silicon oxide (0421; 0439) and using mechanical means to make said solid silicon oxide into multiple particles of silicon oxide containing M therein (0429; 0461).
Regarding claim 3, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein y is selected from 0.01 to 1.0 (0293).
Regarding claim 4, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein said element M (0293), prior to step (b), exists as a single-element metal domain (0293) or as a compound of M on a surface or inside the internal structure of a silicon alloy particle (0293).
Regarding claim 5, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein said element M (0293), upon conclusion of step (c) or (d), exists as a single-element metal domain (0293) or as a compound of M inside the internal structure of a silicon oxide particle (0293), or as a compound of M on an external surface of the silicon oxide particle (0293).
Regarding claim 6, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein said element M, upon conclusion of step (c) or (d), exists as a compound selected from oxide (0125-0126; 0419; 0436), nitride (0436), halogenide (0422), selenide of M (0465), or a combination thereof.
Regarding claim 7, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein said M is introduced to the interior or surface of a silicon alloy particle (0436) by using doping (0301; 0436), ion implementation (0303), physical vapor deposition (abstract; 028; 0090-0092; 0420), atomic layer deposition (0427; 0457), chemical vapor deposition (0419; 0427), solution deposition (0419; 0461), coating (0090; 0429; 0464; 0490), spraying (0090; 0421; 0427), or a combination thereof.
Regarding claim 9, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein the first temperature is from 500°C to 1,000°C (0 deg C to 600 deg C) (0094)and the second temperature is from 1,100°C to 1,500°C (1000 deg C) (0434).
Regarding claim 10, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein step (c) is conducted in a first chamber (0429; 0432-0433) and step (d) is conducted in a first chamber (0429) or a second chamber and the method further comprises, during step (c) and/or step (d), a procedure (e) of introducing a carbon precursor gas (0225; claims 19 and 20) into the first chamber (0429; 0432-0433) and/or the second chamber (0429; 0432-0433) and converting the carbon precursor gas into solid carbon that coats or deposits onto a surface of a silicon oxide particle or encapsulates a silicon oxide particle (coating (0090; 0429; 0464; 0490).
Regarding claim 11, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein the carbon precursor gas is selected from a hydrocarbon gas (deposition gas) (0298).
Regarding claim 12, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein said mechanical means in step (d) is selected from grinding (pressurizing; 0433; 0455).
Regarding claim 13, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein said step (c) or step (d) is conducted in a fluidized bed environment to reduce or prevent particle-to-particle bonding, coarsening, or sintering (heating) of silicon oxide particles (0434-0435).
Regarding claim 14, Dussarrat et al., teaches further comprising a step of coating or encapsulating a silicon oxide particle with a thin layer of carbon (0290; 0293) or graphene having a thickness from 0.34-100 nm (1 nm to 50 nm; 0.5-100 nm) (0457).
Regarding claim 16, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein the composite comprises discrete, oxygen- free Si domains or phase dispersed in a SiOx matrix (0293; 0446) wherein the Si domains have a dimension from 2 nm to 200 nm (1 nm to 50 nm; 0.5-100 nm) (0457).
Regarding claim 17, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein the composite particle is a core/shell structure comprising a core of discrete, oxygen-free Si domain or phase encapsulated by a shell of SiOx (0293; 0446), wherein the Si domain core has a dimension from 10 nm to 200 nm (0.5 nm to 100 nm) (0457).
Regarding claim 18, Dussarrat et al., teaches wherein the composite particle is further encapsulated by or coated with a layer of carbon (0125; 0142; 0436).
Regarding claim 19, Dussarrat et al., teaches anode for a lithium battery, wherein said anode comprises the anode active material of claim 15 as an anode material (0429; 0463).
Regarding claim 20, Dussarrat et al., teaches further including a binder (0295).
Regarding claim 21, Dussarrat et al., teaches further including a conductive additive (0011; 0460).
Regarding claim 22, Dussarrat et al., teaches further including a conductive additive (0011; 0460).
Regarding claim 23, Dussarrat et al., teaches lithium battery (0293; 0428; 0463), wherein said lithium battery comprises an anode of claim 19 (0293; 0429), a cathode (0293; 0429), a separator between the anode and the cathode (0428), and an electrolyte in ionic contact with the anode and the cathode (0295; 0428).
Thus, the claims are anticipated.
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.
Claim(s) 8, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dussarrat et al., US 2024/0102161.
Regarding claim 8, Dussarrat et al., does not teach wherein a molar ratio of silicon-to-Si02 in a composite particle is from 1/100 to 100/1. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would adjust the ratio of silicon to silicon dioxide in order to control the amount of the silicon (0440), as “The absence of silicon, or the presence of silicon in a small amount, is preferred for the formation of some of these materials, especially lithium niobate, lithium titanate, lithium zirconate, or the like.” (0003).
(“The substrate may include layers of oxides which are used as electrode active materials.”; 0293).
Regarding claim 15, Dussarrat et al., teaches anode active material (0293) for lithium-ion batteries (0436), said anode active material comprising a plurality of composite particles (0429; 0461) wherein at least a composite particle (0142; 0426), comprises (i) one or more than one silicon oxide SiOx particle, where 0 < x < 2, (0293; 0446), where 0 < x < 2 (0293; 0446), and (ii) a metal or non-metal element M (0419) dispersed in said SiOx particle or coated on a surface of the SiOx particle (0293; 0446), and M is selected from Al, Fe, Zn, Sn, Cu, Mn, Ni, Ti, V, Cr, Co, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Au, Cd, Li, Na, K, Be, Mg, Ca, B, C, Ge, Ga, In, Sb, Bi, N, P, Pb, Se, S, or a combination thereof (0293), and wherein M is present as individual M atoms embedded in the SiOx structure (0293; 0446), as a domain or phase comprising multiple M atoms (0421; 0449; 0461) that are dispersed in the SiOx structure (0293; 0446), or as a compound selected from an oxide 0436), nitride (0436), or selenide of M (0465), or a combination thereof.
Dussarrat does not teach having a diameter of from 50 nm to 50 um.
However, one of ordinary skill in the art would adjust the diameter of silicon in order to control the amount of the silicon (0440), as “The absence of silicon, or the presence of silicon in a small amount, is preferred for the formation of some of these materials, especially lithium niobate, lithium titanate, lithium zirconate, or the like.” (0003).
Conclusion
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ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727