DETAILED ACTION
Application 18/226951, “CATALYST SUPPORT MATERIALS FOR FUEL CELLS”, is a Continuation of 17/734558 (now USP 11,757,104), which is a Division of 16/591032 (now abandoned), which was filed with the USPTO on 10/2/19.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action on the merits is in response to communication filed on 5/2/22.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-3 and 5-11 in the reply filed on 12/5/25 is acknowledged.
Claims 4 and 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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, 9 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (Xuewei Liu et al; “Enhanced photocatalytic properties of α-SnWO4 nanosheets modified by Ag nanoparticles”, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Volume 490, 15 March 2017, Pages 46-52).
Supporting evidence for claim 2 is provided by Schnell (Patrick Schnell et al; “Interfacial Oxide Formation Limits the Photovoltage of α-SnWO4/NiOx Photoanodes Prepared by Pulsed Laser Deposition”; Adv. Energy Mater. 2021, 11, 2003183).
Regarding claim 1, 3, Liu teaches a catalyst support material, (“photocatalytic properties” of abstract implies a catalyst function), the catalyst support material comprising: a metal material of SnWO4 (“α-SnWO4 nanosheets”, abstract).
The requirement that the catalyst support material is reactive with H3O+, HF and/or SO3− to form reaction products in which the metal material of SnWO4 accounts for a stable molar percentage of the reaction products, the stable mole percentage being greater than 80%, is a materials property which may be implicitly present. In this case, SnWO4 does appear to possess the recited property in view of applicant’s Table 5. Recognition of this property is not required of the prior art (MPEP 2112 II).
The requirement that the catalyst support material is “for an electrochemical system” is not found to distinguish the claimed invention from the disclosure of Liu because the body of the claim does not set forth any particular structure, not present in Liu, which configures the catalyst support for this function (See MPEP 2111.02 II for intended use statements contained in a preamble).
Regarding claim 2, Liu remains as applied to claim 1. Liu teaches SnWO4, which is an oxide, and is therefore in an at least partially oxidized.
Additionally, it is noted that SnWO4 tends to further oxidize in air to form hydroxide or oxyhydroxide species at the surface thereof**. Therefore, the SnWO4 as used in a typical application where there is air exposure would be further oxidized.
**See Schnell at Section 2, second paragraph.
Regarding claim 6, Liu remains as applied to claim 1. Liu further teaches wherein the metal material is a planar metal material (“nanosheets”, abstract; see also Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 9, Liu remains as applied to claim 1. Liu further teaches wherein the metal material is mixed with a conducting material (“Ag”, abstract).
Regarding claim 11, Liu remains as applied to claim 9. Liu further teaches wherein the conducting material is included in a range of 5 to 50 mol percent with respect to a mixture of the metal material and the conducting material (“5 mol% Ag”, abstract).
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 of this title, 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 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Liu (Xuewei Liu et al; “Enhanced photocatalytic properties of α-SnWO4 nanosheets modified by Ag nanoparticles”, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Volume 490, 15 March 2017, Pages 46-52) and Seo (US 2018/0236438).
Regarding claim 5, Liu remains as applied to claim 1. Liu teaches a catalyst support comprising a metal [oxide] material, wherein the support material is plate shaped (“nanosheet”, abstract), but does not appear to teach wherein the catalyst support material is a spherical material.
In the catalyst art, Seo teaches a photocatalyst comprising a metal [oxide] support material, wherein the support material may be plate shaped or spherical as alternatives (paragraph [0040]).
It would have been obvious to provide a catalyst support material of Liu in a spherical configuration since sheet type and spherical type configurations were known to be effective catalyst support structures at the time of invention in view of Seo. Such a modification merely requires the simple substitution of one known support geometry for another to yield the predictable effect of a suitably supported catalyst; therefore, a prima facie case of obviousness for modification exists.
Claims 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Liu (Xuewei Liu et al; “Enhanced photocatalytic properties of α-SnWO4 nanosheets modified by Ag nanoparticles”, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Volume 490, 15 March 2017, Pages 46-52) and Rajeshwar (US 2008/0241640).
Regarding claim 10, Liu remains as applied to claim 1. Liu teaches a catalyst support comprising a metal [oxide] material (abstract), but does not appear to teach wherein the catalyst support material comprises carbon as a conducting material.
In the catalyst art, Rajeshwar teaches that a high performance electrocatalyst may be achieved by providing a mixture including a photoactive metal oxide and an electrically conducting carbonaceous material (abstract; paragraph [0022]; Rajeshwar claim 21).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the catalyst support of Liu with a carbon conducting material for the benefit of improving the electrical conductivity of the catalsyst with the carbon as taught by Rajeshwar, which is the conventional reason for adding an electrically conductive material to an electrochemically active substance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 8 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding dependent claims 7 and 8, the closest prior art includes Liu (Xuewei Liu et al; “Enhanced photocatalytic properties of α-SnWO4 nanosheets modified by Ag nanoparticles”, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Volume 490, 15 March 2017, Pages 46-52), which is applied hereinbelow in the rejection of claim 1.
Liu teaches a catalyst support material comprising SnWO4, but fails to further teach the material doped with an atomic percentage of nitrogen, carbon, fluorine, or a combination thereof, such that Liu fails to teach the invention of claims 7 and 8.
A diligent search has been performed, but has not yielded a reference which cures this deficiency of Liu, or which independently teaches the invention of claims 7 and 8. Accordingly, these claims are not rejected, but are objected to for being dependent on a rejected base claim.
Relevant or Related Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, though not necessarily pertinent to applicant’s invention as claimed.
Lynn (USP 3089909) -teaches tin tungstate as a catalyst material, does not teach the material doped with nitrogen, carbon or fluorine;
Zhou (US 2013/0178664) -teaches tin tungstate as an undesirable compound for a catalyst support which decreases catalytic activity.
Pezzoli (USP 4168346) -teaches tin tungstate as treatment for an asbestos material.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEREMIAH R SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-7005. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9 AM-5 PM (EST).
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/JEREMIAH R SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723