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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of claims 1-6, 9-13, 20, 21 in the reply filed on 7/30/26 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/10/23 and 11/10/23 are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawing submitted on 8/10/23 has been considered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-13, 20, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (Manipulating and Optimizing the Hierarchically Porous Electrode Structures for Rapid Mass Transport in Solid Oxide Cells) in view of Zhang et al. (High performance three-dimensionally ordered microporous composite cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells).
Regarding claim 1, the Hu et al. reference discloses a porous solid oxide composite comprising an electrode material and a solid oxide electrolyte material (Fig. 5e), wherein the porous solid oxide composite has mesopores structure and micropores connecting the mesopores. The Hu et al. reference is silent in specifying that the mesopores are arranged in an opal structure, the Hu et al. reference discloses that mesoporous structure made by phase inversion are known. The Zhang et al. reference discloses a mesoporous component of a solid oxide composite can be made by opal phase inversion to produce a high surface area with adequate porosity to effectively improve the SOFC performance. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate opal phase inversion to SOFC composites disclosed by the Zhang et al. reference for the porous solid oxide composite that require phase inversion process to produce mesoporous composite structures to optimize the solid oxide fuel cell.
Regarding claim 2, the Hu et al. in view of Zhang reference (herein referred to as modified Hu reference) discloses the opal structure has a structure that four to six of the mesopores arranged laterally next to at least one of the mesopores, two to three of the mesopores placed directly on a top of at least one of the mesopores, and two to three of the mesopores placed directly under at least one of the mesopores (Zhang, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses wherein at least one of the mesopores is connected to at least three of the micropores (Hu, Fig 5).
Regarding claim 4, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses the average pore size of the mesopores are 0.3 µm to 20µm (Zhang, Fig. 1) and that the final pore product depends on can be adjusted according to the template.
Regarding claim 5, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses each of the mesopores has a spherical shape (Zhang Fig. 1 and Hu Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 6, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses an average diameter of each of the micropores in the spherical shape is 0.03 µm to 2 µm.
Regarding claim 9, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses 34% YSZ in the electrode (Hu et al., Item 5) and the solid oxide electrolyte material only comprising YSZ (Fig. 5). As a result, the YSZ material in each component is within the range of 4:1 to 0.25:1.
Regarding claim 10, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses the porous solid oxide composite has a porosity of 30 % to 50 % (Hu. 2.4).
Regarding claim 11, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses wherein the solid oxide electrolyte material includes an yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), a scandia-stabilized zirconia (ScSZ), a gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC), a samaria-doped ceria (SDC), a strontium- and magnesium- doped lanthanum gallate (LSGM), a samaria- and ceria-doped barium zirconate (BaZrO3), a samaria- and ceria-doped barium cerate (BaCeO3 ), or a combination thereof (Hu, Fig. 5f).
Regarding claim 12, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses the electrode material comprises an air electrode material including a lanthanum-strontium manganese oxide (LSM), a lanthanum-strontium iron oxide (LSF), a lanthanum-strontium cobalt oxide (LSC), a lanthanum-strontium cobalt iron oxide (LSCF), a samarium-strontium cobalt oxide (SSC), a barium-strontium cobalt iron oxide (BSCF), a bismuth-ruthenium oxide, or a combination thereof (Fig. 5F).
Regarding claim 13, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses the electrode material is a fuel electrode material comprising nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), ruthenium (Ru), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), an oxide thereof, or a combination thereof.
Regarding claim 20, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses comprising a solid oxide electrolyte, an air electrode disposed on one side of the solid oxide electrolyte, and a fuel electrode disposed on an opposite side of the solid oxide electrode, wherein at least one of the air electrode or the fuel electrode includes a porous solid oxide composite including an electrode material and a solid oxide electrolyte material, and the porous solid oxide composite has mesopores and micropores connecting the mesopores. The Hu et al. reference is silent in specifying that the mesopores are arranged in an opal structure, the Hu et al. reference discloses that mesoporous structure made by phase inversion are known. The Zhang et al. reference discloses a mesoporous component of a solid oxide composite can be made by opal phase inversion to produce a high surface area with adequate porosity to effectively improve the SOFC performance. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate opal phase inversion to SOFC composites disclosed by the Zhang et al. reference for the porous solid oxide composite that require phase inversion process to produce mesoporous composite structures to optimize the solid oxide fuel cell.
Regarding claim 21, the modified Hu et al. reference discloses wherein the solid oxide cell is a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), a solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC), or both.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HELEN OI CONLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-5162. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Smith can be reached at 5712728760. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Helen Oi K CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
Prosecution Insights