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 the Claims
The claims submitted 10/16/2023 have been entered and fully considered. Claims 1-15 are pending and examined herein.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 6-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0280060 A1 (“Kim”) in view of US 2018/0175377 A1 (“Hirose”).
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Kim discloses a negative active material composite 1 comprising a core 3 including crystalline carbon 13, amorphous carbon, and silicon nanoparticles 11; and a coating layer 5 including amorphous carbon (Abstract; Fig. 1; [0047]).
Kim does not expressly disclose a coating layer positioned on a surface of the silicon-carbon composite the coating layer comprising a metal hydroxide, and an amount of the coating layer is about 1 wt% to about 10 wt% based on about 100 wt% of the negative active material.
Hirose discloses a negative electrode active material comprising a silicon compound at least partially coated with a carbon coating. At least a part of a surface of the silicon compound, a surface of the carbon coating, or both of them are coated with a composite layer that contains a composite composed of amorphous metal oxide and metal hydroxide (Abstract; Fig. 1). An aqueous slurry containing the active material is highly stable (Abstract; [0058]-[0059]). In an example, the precursor to the composite layer, in this case Al isopropoxide, is included in an amount of 1.5% by mass ([0112]). Hydrolysis and dehydration condensation are performed successively to form the composite such that the metal oxide region and the metal hydroxide region coexist ([0056]-[0057], [0095], [0111]). Therefore, the amount of the composite layer containing the metal hydroxide, formed after hydrolysis and dehydration condensation falls within the claimed range. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the composite layer comprising a metal hydroxide in the amount taught by Hirose to allow for a highly stable aqueous slurry containing the active material.
Regarding claims 6-9, modified Kim discloses the negative active material of claim 1. Kim discloses the negative active material composite 1 has a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area of less than or equal to about 10 m2/g. When the BET specific surface area is within the above-described ranges, efficiency characteristics of a battery may be improved by suppressing or reducing side reaction(s) with the electrolyte ([0067]). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the BET specific surface area to improve the efficiency characteristics of a battery by suppressing or reducing side reaction(s) with the electrolyte.
Regarding claim 11, modified Kim discloses the negative active material of claim 10. Kim further discloses the amorphous carbon is included in an amount about 20 wt% to about 70 wt% based on a total weight of the negative active material composite 1 ([0061]).
Regarding claim 12, modified Kim discloses the negative active material of claim 10. Kim further discloses the crystalline carbon 13 may be included in an amount of about 20 wt % to about 80 wt % based on a total weight of the negative active material composite 1. When the crystalline carbon is included within the above-described ranges, expansion of the silicon nanoparticles may be reduced, and accordingly, initial efficiency and cycle-life characteristics of a battery may be improved ([0056]). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the amount of crystalline carbon as taught by Kim to improve initial efficiency and cycle-life characteristics of the battery.
Regarding claims 13-14, modified Kim discloses the negative active material of claim 10. Kim further discloses the silicon nanoparticles 11 may be included in an amount of about 20 wt % to about 80 wt %. When the silicon nanoparticles are included within the above-described ranges, battery capacity may be improved ([0055]). Kim further discloses the crystalline carbon 13 may be included in an amount of about 20 wt % to about 80 wt % based on a total weight of the negative active material composite 1. When the crystalline carbon is included within the above-described ranges, expansion of the silicon nanoparticles may be reduced, and accordingly, initial efficiency and cycle-life characteristics of a battery may be improved ([0056]). Accordingly, the weight ratio of silicon to crystalline carbon overlaps the claimed range. The weight ratio would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention because the weight ratio disclosed by Kim overlaps the weight ratio as claimed. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976). Furthermore, “[t]he normal desire of scientists or artisans to improve upon what is already generally known provides the motivation to determine where in a disclosed set of percentage ranges is the optimum combination of percentages.” In re Peterson, 315 F.3d 1325, 1330, 65 USPQ2d 1379, 1382-83 (Fed. Cir. 2003). See also In re Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465, 1469-71, 43 USPQ2d 1362, 1365-66 (Fed. Cir. 1997); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990); and MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding claim 15, modified Kim discloses the negative active material of claim 1. Kim further discloses a rechargeable lithium battery including a positive electrode, a negative electrode including the negative active material, and an electrolyte ([0031], [0100]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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:
Claims 2 and 3 further limit the amount of the coating layer: about 5 wt% to about 10 wt% in claim 2, and about 8 wt% to about 10 wt% in claim 3. US 2018/0175377 A1 (“Hirose”) discloses it is preferred that the composite layer (containing the metal hydroxide) have a thickness of 10 nm or less. When the composite layer has a thickness of 10 nm or less, the resistance of the silicon-based active material particles is not excessively high, and good battery performances can be obtained thereby ([0033]-[0034]). US 2020/0280060 A1 (“Kim”) discloses negative active material composite 1 has an average particle diameter (D50) of about 2 µm to about 15 µm. When the negative active material composite has an average particle diameter within the above-described ranges, lithium ions may easily diffuse into and/or out of the negative active material composite, and accordingly, cell resistance and/or rate characteristics may be improved. In addition, side reaction(s) with the electrolyte may be reduced by suppressing or reducing an increase (e.g., excessive increase) of a negative active material specific surface area ([0062]). The prior art does not disclose or render obvious the claimed amount of the coating layer.
Claim 4 recites that the metal hydroxide includes hydroxides of an alkali element and claim 5 recites the metal hydroxide includes NaOH, LiOH, KOH, or combinations thereof. US 2018/0175377 A1 (“Hirose”) discloses it is preferred that the metal hydroxide contain at least one element selected from the group consisting of aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and zirconium ([0031], [0096]). US 2020/0280060 A1 (“Kim”) discloses a coating of a hydroxide of a coating element, wherein the coating element includes, among other elements, Al, K, and Na ([0103]). However, this coating is provided on a positive active material. The prior art does not disclose or render obvious the negative active material as recited in claims 4 or 5.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert Scott Carrico whose telephone number is (571)270-5504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:15AM-6PM ET.
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Robert Scott Carrico
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/Robert S Carrico/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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