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 .
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 1-6, 8-10, 12-15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (EP-3985046-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Archambeau’ , in view of (US-20200083566-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Yabe.’
Regarding Claim 1,
Archambeau teaches gel electrolyte (Archambeau, “The gel according to the present invention …for gel electrolyte”, see [0123] and [0127]) comprising a liquid (Archambeau, “The non-aqueous solvent of the gel medium of the present invention can be selected from…at least one ionic liquid”, see [0161]; (Archambeau, “The gel medium may contain trace amounts of water, such as less than 10% by weight relative to the total weight of the gel medium” see [0159]), and a polymer obtained by polymerizing (Archambeau, “allowing to polymerize said polyfunctional polymer and said polycarbodiimide or polyaziridine thereby forming a crosslinked polymer and forming a gel medium in which the compounds and the solvent are held in a matrix comprising the crosslinked polymer”, see [0023]) an imidazolium salt having an alkenyl group (Archambeau, “3-Ethyl-1-vinylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide”, see [0109])(see structure below)
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with a compound having an imidazolium salt having an alkenyl group at each of both ends (Archambeau ,1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, see [0109]),
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wherein the polymer is swollen by the liquid ((the Examiner notes the polymer is capable of being swollen by the liquid) for the benefit of good ionic conductivity and resistance to deformation is also encountered in electrochemical cells such as batteries, see [0009]).
Archambeau does not teach an inorganic nanofiber.
Yabe teaches wherein the inorganic nanofiber is a metal oxide nanofiber (Yabe, “The porous silica 1 may have, for example, a network structure formed by multiple silica particles or multiple silica fibers joined together”, see [0017]).
Yabe teaches that the network of metal oxide, more particularly, silica allows for increased contact area which can hold the electrolytes stably (Yabe, “This can increase the specific surface area of the porous silica 1 and thereby can increase the area of contact between the porous silica 1 and electrolyte 2. An increased area of contact allows the porous silica 1 to hold the electrolyte 2 in its pores stably.”, see [0017]).
Archambeau and Yabe are analogous as they are both of the same field of electrolytes.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electrolyte as taught in Archambeau with the silica fibers as taught in Yabe in order to stabilize the electrolytes.
Regarding Claim 2,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic nanofiber is uniformly dispersed in the polymer (Yabe, “The porous silica 1 may have, for example, a network structure formed by multiple silica particles or multiple silica fibers joined together”, see [0017]).
Regarding Claim 3,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 1,wherein both the polymer and the inorganic nanofiber have a network structure (Yabe, “The porous silica 1 may have, for example, a network structure formed by multiple silica particles or multiple silica fibers joined together”, see [0017]).
Regarding Claim 4,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 1,wherein the polymer is obtained by polymerizing an imidazolium salt having one alkenyl group on a nitrogen atom with a compound having an imidazolium salt having one alkenyl group on a nitrogen atom at each of both ends (Archambeau ,1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, see [0109]) (Archambeau, “allowing to polymerize said polyfunctional polymer and said polycarbodiimide or polyaziridine thereby forming a crosslinked polymer and forming a gel medium in which the compounds and the solvent are held in a matrix comprising the crosslinked polymer”, see [0023]) (The examiner notes the structure above)
Regarding Claim 5,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 4, wherein the imidazolium salt having one alkenyl group on a nitrogen atom has the following formula (1).
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Wherein R1 represents an alkenyl group, R2 represents a hydrogen atoms or an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms, and X- represents a monovalent anion (Archambeau ,1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [0109]) (The examiner points to the structure above) (Archambeau, “3-Ethyl-1-vinylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide”, see [0109])(see structure above).
Regarding Claim 6,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 5, wherein the imidazolium salt having one alkenyl group on a nitrogen atom has the following formula (1-1)
((Archambeau ,1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [0109]) (The examiner points to the structure above) (Archambeau, “3-Ethyl-1-vinylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide”, see [0109])(see structure above).
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Regarding Claim 8,
Modified Archambeau teaches where the compound having an imidazolium salt having one alkenyl group on a nitrogen atom at each of both ends has the following formula (Archambeau, “Examples of copolymers of acrylates and methacrylates or styrene acrylates or styrene methacrylates, polymers or copolymers made from ionic liquids may also be employed. Such ionic liquid monomers developed by SOLVIONIC can easily be transformed into polymer either by thermal means or by UV-polymerisation. Examples thereof include but are not limited to 1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide or 3-Ethyl-1-vinylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide.”, see [0109]).
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(see the image of 1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide below) .
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Regarding Claim 9,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 8, wherein the compound having an imidazolium salt having one alkenyl group on a nitrogen atom at each of both ends has the following formula (2-1).
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Wherein Y- represents a monovalent anion independently of each other, and n represents an integer of 1 to 20 (Archambeau, “Examples of copolymers of acrylates and methacrylates or styrene acrylates or styrene methacrylates, polymers or copolymers made from ionic liquids may also be employed. Such ionic liquid monomers developed by SOLVIONIC can easily be transformed into polymer either by thermal means or by UV-polymerisation. Examples thereof include but are not limited to 1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide or 3-Ethyl-1-vinylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide.”, see [0109])(see the image of 1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide below as evidenced by ‘TCI chemicals’ ) .
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Regarding Claim 10,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 9, wherein n is an interger of 4 to 16 (Archambeau, “Examples of copolymers of acrylates and methacrylates or styrene acrylates or styrene methacrylates, polymers or copolymers made from ionic liquids may also be employed. Such ionic liquid monomers developed by SOLVIONIC can easily be transformed into polymer either by thermal means or by UV-polymerisation. Examples thereof include but are not limited to 1,4-Butanediyl-3,3'-bis-1-vinylimidazolium Di-bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide or 3-Ethyl-1-vinylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide.”, see [0109])(see structure above).
Regarding Claim 12,
Modified Archambeau teaches wherein the inorganic nanofiber is a metal oxide nanofiber (Yabe, “The porous silica 1 may have, for example, a network structure formed by multiple silica particles or multiple silica fibers joined together”, see [0017]).
Regarding Claim 13,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 12, wherein the metal oxide nanofiber is at least one selected from titania, alumina, silica, zinc oxide, and zirconia nanofibers (Yabe, “The porous silica 1 may have, for example, a network structure formed by multiple silica particles or multiple silica fibers joined together”, see [0017]).
Regarding Claim 14,
Modified Archambeau teaches the gel electrolyte according to claim 12,wherein the metal oxide nanofiber is a silica nanofiber (Yabe, “The porous silica 1 may have, for example, a network structure formed by multiple silica particles or multiple silica fibers joined together”, see [0017]).
Regarding Claim 15,
Modified Archambeau teaches wherein the liquid is at least one selected from water and sulfuric acid (Archambeau, “The gel medium may contain trace amounts of water, such as less than 10% by weight relative to the total weight of the gel medium. ” see [0159]).
Regarding Claim 18,
Archambeau teaches an organic-inorganic composite comprising and a polymer of an imidazolium salt (Archambeau, “allowing to polymerize said polyfunctional polymer and said polycarbodiimide or polyaziridine thereby forming a crosslinked polymer and forming a gel medium in which the compounds and the solvent are held in a matrix comprising the crosslinked polymer”, see [0023]) having one alkenyl group on a nitrogen atom having the following formula (1-1) with a compound (Archambeau, “allowing to polymerize said polyfunctional polymer and said polycarbodiimide or polyaziridine thereby forming a crosslinked polymer and forming a gel medium in which the compounds and the solvent are held in a matrix comprising the crosslinked polymer”, see [0023]) (Archambeau, “3-Ethyl-1-vinylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide”, see [0109])(see structures below)
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Archambeau does not teach a silica nanofiber.
Yabe teaches wherein the inorganic nanofiber is a metal oxide nanofiber (Yabe, “The porous silica 1 may have, for example, a network structure formed by multiple silica particles or multiple silica fibers joined together”, see [0017]).
Yabe teaches that the network of metal oxide, more particularly, silica allows for increased contact area which can hold the electrolytes stably (Yabe, “This can increase the specific surface area of the porous silica 1 and thereby can increase the area of contact between the porous silica 1 and electrolyte 2. An increased area of contact allows the porous silica 1 to hold the electrolyte 2 in its pores stably.”, see [0017]).
Archambeau and Yabe are analogous as they are both of the same field of electrolytes.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electrolyte as taught in Archambeau with the silica fibers as taught in Yabe in order to stabilize the electrolytes
Claims 7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (EP-3985046-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Archambeau’ , in view of (US-20200083566-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Yabe’, (US-20190348730-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Furutani’
Regarding Claim 7,
Modified Archambeau does not teach wherein the X- is HSO4-.
Furutani teaeches wherein X- is HSO4- (Furutani, “Moreover, ammonium salts or salts of particular metallic elements are also preferred. Specifically, salts of at least one type of ions selected from Cl.sup.−, SO.sub.4.sup.2−, HSO.sub.4.sup.−, and NO.sub.3.sup.−”, see [0043])
Furutani teaches that this type of acidic anion are less corrosive to the metal or alloys in negative electrode materials as compared to electrolyte solutions (Furtani, “Aqueous solutions containing the salts of strong acids and weak bases have a relatively weak corrosive action on metals or alloys that can be a negative electrode active material, as compared to aqueous solutions (electrolyte solutions).”, see [0044]).
Archambeau and Furutani are analogous as they are both of the same field of electrolyte solutions.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electrolyte as taught in Archambeau with the acid solution as taught in Furutani in order to reduce the corrosion to the electrodes.
Regarding Claim 11,
Modified Archambeau does not teach wherein Y- is HSO4-.
Furutani teaches wherein X- is HSO4- (Furutani, “Moreover, ammonium salts or salts of particular metallic elements are also preferred. Specifically, salts of at least one type of ions selected from Cl.sup.−, SO.sub.4.sup.2−, HSO.sub.4.sup.−, and NO.sub.3.sup.−”, see [0043])
Furutani teaches that this type of acidic anion are less corrosive to the metal or alloys in negative electrode materials as compared to electrolyte solutions (Furtani, “Aqueous solutions containing the salts of strong acids and weak bases have a relatively weak corrosive action on metals or alloys that can be a negative electrode active material, as compared to aqueous solutions (electrolyte solutions).”, see [0044]).
Archambeau and Furutani are analogous as they are both of the same field of electrolyte solutions.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electrolyte as taught in Archambeau with the acid solution as taught in Furutani in order to reduce the corrosion to the electrodes.
Claims 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (EP-3985046-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Archambeau’ , in view of (US-20200083566-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Yabe’, in view of (US-20050170252-A1) hereinafter referred to as ‘Aihara’
Regarding Claim 16,
Archambeau does not teach the gel electrolyte, which is used for a fuel cell.
Aihara teaches gel electrolytes for a use in fuel cells (Aihara, “The present invention relates to a gel electrolyte, an electrode for a fuel cell, and a fuel cell.”, see [0003]).
Aihara teaches that heterocyclic nitrogen polymers allows for high proton conductivity to be maintained in the fuel cell and improve performance (Aihara, “Since the heterocyclic nitrogen containing compound may be water-insoluble, even when water is produced as a product from the reaction of a fuel cell, the heterocyclic nitrogen containing compound may not discharge with water from the gel electrolyte. Thus high proton conductivity may be maintained for a longer period.”, see [0013]).
Archambeau and Aihara are analogous as they are both of the same field of gel electrolytes.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the nitrogen containing gel electrolyte as taught in Archambeau to a Fuel Cell such as taught in Aihara in order to improve fuel cell performance.
Regarding Claim 17,
Archambeau does not teach a fuel cell comprising the gel electrolyte according claim 1.
Aihara teaches gel electrolytes for a use in fuel cells (Aihara, “The present invention relates to a gel electrolyte, an electrode for a fuel cell, and a fuel cell.”, see [0003]).
Aihara teaches that heterocyclic nitrogen polymers allows for high proton conductivity to be maintained in the fuel cell and improve performance (Aihara, “Since the heterocyclic nitrogen containing compound may be water-insoluble, even when water is produced as a product from the reaction of a fuel cell, the heterocyclic nitrogen containing compound may not discharge with water from the gel electrolyte. Thus high proton conductivity may be maintained for a longer period.”, see [0013]).
Archambeau and Aihara are analogous as they are both of the same field of gel electrolytes.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the nitrogen containing gel electrolyte as taught in Archambeau to a fuel cell, such as taught in Aihara, in order to improve fuel cell performance.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. ‘Polymeric ionic liquid nanoparticles as binder for composite Li-ion electrodes’ hereinafter referred to as ‘Zamory’. Zamory also teaches the chemical in Claim 8 and Claim 18 as seen in Fig. 1.
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/S.P.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752