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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1- 6, 8-15 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 20160372743), and further in view of Kano et al. (US 20220407047) and Lee et al. (US 20200144599).
Claim 1: Cho teaches a secondary battery with a lithium metal anode comprising a lithium metal layer disposed on a copper anode current collector, a multi-layered polymer coating disposed on the lithium layer that prevents direct contact of the lithium layer with the electrolyte, thereby preventing lithium dendrite formation on the lithium surface (i.e., protective layer) [0026, 0053, 0059, 0065] (Figs. 2 and 3);
wherein a first polymeric crosslinked gel layer positioned to be in contact with the electrolyte [0028] and provides a swellable coating that has high ionic conductivity [0070] (i.e., second polymer);
and a second inner polymer layer that provides mechanical strength to the protective layer (i.e., high strength polymer), and serves as a physical barrier to the lithium metal layer [0028, 0073] (i.e., first polymer).
Cho teaches having multiple protective layers effectively prevents dendrite formation on the lithium surface and consequently improves the cycle life of the battery [0059, 0069]. All the protective layers are polymeric layer. Cho does not teach an additional layer (i.e., anode interlayer) comprising of metal and carbon material.
However, Kano teaches a negative electrode (i.e., anode) for a lithium secondary battery comprising a negative electrode current collector (21) comprising copper, and a plurality of layers disposed on the current collector, including a lithium metal layer (222) and a polymer configured to promote uniform deposition of lithium ion and suppress the growth of lithium dendrite on the anode lithium metal layer (i.e., protective layer) [0035, 0052],
and a first layer (221) (i.e., anode interlayer) that functions as an induction layer, attracting lithium ions to the negative electrode current collector side from the third layer (i.e., outer protective polymer layer) at the initial stage of charging thereby suppressing the growth of lithium dendrite that may form on the outer surface of the protective layer i.e., between the outer protective layer and the separator. The layer contains material capable of attracting lithium ions from the outer polymer layer and storing them (i.e., lithiophilic), thereby preventing formation of dendrite on the outer polymeric layer [0010-0011, 0019, 0021]. Kano teaches the interlayer comprises a material which can also be used as a negative electrode active material of lithium-ion batteries can be used. such as a carbon material or metal capable of alloying with lithium including zinc metal [0019, 0022, 0025]. Kano further teaches that the advantage of using a metal film is that it is easy to form a thin and uniform layer and lithium ion are more uniformly attracted to the surface of the layer [0024], however, it is preferable to use carbon material as it is cheaper [002]. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to prepare an optimized active material by combining the two materials to leverage the advantages of both.
Lee teaches an anodeless coating layer comprising anode active material capable of forming an alloy with lithium [0070], and may serve as a protective layer for the lithium layer deposited on the current collector by preventing dendrite formation [0034, 0115], wherein the coating layer comprises a mixture of first particles and second particles, wherein the first particle (i.e., second particle) is amorphous carbon, and the second particle (i.e., first particle) is a metal capable of forming an alloy with lithium (i.e., lithiophilic metal) such as zinc (Zn) [abstract, 0035, 0042, 0047, 0090].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have prepared Cho‘s anode by including an interlayer comprising of carbon particles and metal particles that can form an alloy with lithium, to attract lithium ions and from the polymer layer and prevent growth of dendrite on the surface of the protective polymer layer.
Claim 2: As described above, Cho in combination with Kano and Lee teach the lithiophilic metal comprises zinc (Zn) metal.
Claim 3: As described, Cho in combination with Kano and Lee teach the second particles comprise of amorphous carbon.
Claim 4: as described above Cho in combination with Kano and Lee teach the interlayer comprises of first particles of a lithiophilic metal, zinc, and second particles of amorphous carbon. Lee further teaches the weight ratio of the amorphous carbon to the zinc metal is in the range 3:1 to 1:1 (i.e., the ration of the first to second particles is in the range 1:1 to 1:3) [0044].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made the Cho’s anode by mixing the metal and amorphous carbon in a 1:1 weight ratio to form the interlayer because Lee teaches such is an operable anode.
Claim 5: As described, Cho in combination with Kano and Lee teach an interlayer between the anode current collector and the protective layer. Lee further teaches the coating layer (22) (i.e., the interlayer) may include a conductive binder to stabilize the interlayer on the current collector (21) [0097, 0099].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made Cho‘s anode by including a binder in the interlayer so as to stabilize the interlayer on the current collector.
Claim 6: As described, Cho in combination with Kano and Lee teach an interlayer between the anode current collector and the protective layer. Lee further teaches the thickness of the coating layer (i.e., interlayer) is in the range 1 to 20 µm [0087]. Lee does not identically teach the range 0.1 to 5 µm. however, overlapping ranges have been held to support a case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05.I).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made the Koh’s anode by making the interlayer with a thickness between 1 µm and 5 µm because Lee teaches such is an operable anode.
Claims 8-9: Cho teaches a second inner polymer layer that provides mechanical strength to the protective layer (i.e., high strength polymer), and serves as a physical barrier to the lithium metal layer [0028], may comprise a fluorinated polymer, polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF). Cho teaches fluorinated polymers are known for having high strength physical properties and are not dissolved by aprotic liquid Li battery electrolytes, and PVDF is a preferred high strength polymer that is resistant to solvents, acids, and bases [0079].
Claim 10: Cho teaches the first outer protective layer with high ion conductivity can be made of polyethylene oxide (PEO) or polyacrylonitrile (PAN) [0079].
Claims 11 and 13: Cho teaches each of the first outer layer has a thickness in the range 1 to 2 µm [0070] and the second inner layer has a thickness in the range 0.2 to 2 µm [0074] such that the combined thickness of the protective layers is in the range 1.2 to 4 µm. Cho further teaches the first and second protective layers can be made of the same polymer material [0079] and same thickness [0060]. Since the thickness of the first protective layer can be greater than the thickness of the second protective layer, the amount of the first polymer can be greater or the same as the second polymer.
Claim 12: Cho teaches the first and second polymer layers can be polymer-only layers (i.e., salt-free) [0080]. Cho also teaches each of the layers of the multi-layer coating (i.e., protective layer) may be non-porous [0060].
Claim 14: As described above, the combination of Cho and Kano teaches am an anode interlayer and a protective layer. Kano further teaches the thickness of the first layer (i.e., interlayer) is 10 µm or less [0028, 0144] and the thickness of the third layer (i.e., protective layer) is in the range 0.1 to 5 µm [0049] (i.e., ratio of 0:5 to 100:1). Kano does not identically teach the ratio 1:1 to 1:20. However, overlapping ranges have been held to support a case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05.I).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made the Cho’s anode with combination of 5 µm of the interlayer and 5 µm or the protective layer (i.e., a ratio of 1:1) because Kano teaches such is an operable electrode.
Claim 15: As described above, Cho teaches an anode current collector comprising copper.
Claim 17-18: Cho in combination with Kano and Lee teach a lithium anode with an anode current collector and interlayer as described above. Lee further teaches a metal layer (23) comprising lithium or a lithium alloy may be formed between the anode current collector (21) and the anode coating layer (22), wherein the metal layer serves as a lithium reservoir so that the deposition of the lithium layer may further be flattened (Fig. 4) [0120]. The lithium metal layer can be formed form lithium ions depositing when the battery is first charged, thus the lithium metal layer is free of binder. The metal layer may also be formed in advance i.e., prior to initial discharge [0115, 0119]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made the Cho’s anode with a lithium metal layer between the interlayer and the current collector to act as a lithium ion reservoir.
Claim 19-20: Cho in combination with Kano and Lee teaches a lithium battery anode as described above. Cho further teaches a lithium battery further comprising a cathode, a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) electrolyte or liquid electrolyte interposed between the electrodes (Fig. 1) [0065].
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 20160372743), Kano et al. (US 20220407047) and Lee et al. (US 20200144599), and further in view of Koh et al. (US 20200235386 A1).
Claim 7: Cho teaches a protective layer comprising a high strength polymer and a polymer layer with high ionic conductivity as described above. Cho does not the elastic modulus of the polymeric layers. However, Koh teaches a lithium secondary battery comprising a negative electrode with a lithium metal layer and a double protective layer that controls the growth of lithium dendrite and suppress side reactions between the electrolyte and the lithium negative electrode, wherein the elastic modulus of the first polymer protective film with high ion conductivity and low strength (i.e., second polymer) may be less than 107 Pa and the elastic modulus of the second polymer protective film (i.e., first polymer) with high strength and low ion conductivity may be 107 Pa or more (i.e., the high-strength polymer has an elastic modulus greater than the second low-strength polymer ) [0040]. Koh further teaches having different elastic modulus may decrease the occurrence of side reactions and inhibit the growth of lithium dendrite, thereby increasing discharging capacity [0040].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made the Cho’s anode protective layer wherein the high strength polymer has an elastic modulus greater than the other polymer because Koh teaches such is efficient protective layer that can suppress lithium dendrite and side reactions.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 20160372743), Kano et al. (US 20220407047) and Lee et al. (US 20200144599), and further in view of Herle et al. (US 20190088987 A1).
Claim 16: Cho teaches an anode current collector comprising copper metal as described above, however, Cho does not teach a base film disposed on the metal layer.
Herle teaches lithium-containing anode for a secondary battery comprising a copper current collector, a lithium metal film formed on the current collector and a protective film stack of polymer films and ceramic films formed on the lithium metal film to suppress or eliminate lithium dendrite [0009, 0011, 0038, 0050], wherein the anode current collector (160) comprises a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film (i.e., base film) coated with copper [0041].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling the instant invention to have made the Cho’s anode with a current collector with a PET film coated with copper because Herle teaches such is an operable electrode.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Park et al. (US 20210104748) teaches a lithium secondary battery anode comprising first to third polymer layers disposed sequentially on a negative electrode to prevent lithium dendrite formation [0013-0014]
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/L.N.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1712
/MICHAEL P WIECZOREK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1712
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