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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 09/29/2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 7-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 (b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
The terms “slow drying regime,” “low porosity” and “little mesostructured growth” in claim 7 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “slow drying regime,” “low porosity” and “little mesostructured growth” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The terms “moderate drying regime,” “moderate porosity” and “enlonged mesostructured growth” in claim 10 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “moderate drying regime,” “moderate porosity” and “enlonged mesostructured growth” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The terms “rapid drying regime,” “high porosity” and “small aggregate mesostructured growth” in claim 13 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “rapid drying regime,” “high porosity” and “small aggregate mesostructured growth” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2023/0261167 to Gaben in view of US Patent Application Publication 2017/0373284 to Durstock et al.
With respect to claim 1, Gaben teaches a method of fabricating a lithium-ion battery electrode, the method comprising: printing a slurry comprising lithium-ion battery electrode components; and exposing the printed slurry to a drying regime condition so as to dry the printed slurry and obtain a desired degree of porosity of the electrode (Gaben: Sections [0066]-[0077]).
Gaben does not specifically teach the printing method is aerosol jet.
However, Durstock et al. teach a method of printing a composite electrode by aerosol jet printing technique (Durstock et al.: Section [0011]).
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Gaben with the teaching above from Durstock et al. with the motivation of having a means such aerosol jet printing technique is a common substitution to ink jet printing.
With respect to claim 2, Gaben teaches the method, wherein the lithium-ion battery electrode components include an active material and a solvent (Gaben: Sections [0066]-[0077]).
With respect to claim 3, Gaben teaches the method, wherein when the electrode is a cathode the active material is lithium-iron phosphate, lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese oxide, lithium manganese nickel oxide, lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, or combinations thereof and when electrode is an anode the active materials is lithium titanate, graphite, or both (Gaben: Section [0106]).
With respect to claim 4, Gaben teaches the method, wherein the solvent is dimethyl formamide (aprotic solvent) (Gaben: Sections [0235]-[0236]).
With respect to claim 5, Gaben teaches the method, wherein the lithium-ion battery electrode components further include a binder (Gaben: Sections [0235]-[0236]).
With respect to claim 6, Gaben teaches the method, wherein the binder is polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) (Gaben: Sections [0235]-[0236]).
Claims 7-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 2023/0261167 to Gaben in view of US Patent Application Publication 2017/0373284 to Durstock et al. in further view of US Patent Application Publication 2003/0165739 to Kizu et al.
With respect to claims 7-9, Gaben further teach the method, comprises a step of drying the active material to be a porous electrode with porosity of between 25% and 50% and mesoporous structure in pore of the electrode.
Gaben does not specifically teach the method, wherein the drying regime is a slow drying regime with a resultant electrode having low porosity and little mesostructure growth, wherein the slow drying regime occurs when solvent vapor pressure is less than 0.002 atm, wherein the slow drying regime occurs when a temperature of a platen supporting the printed slurry is less than 25° C.
However, Kizu et al. teach a method of drying a composition of positive electrode active material at a temperature of 20 to 100 °C (overlapping 20 to 25 °C) (Kizu et al.: Section [0032]). In this case, the resultant electrode would be obtained and the solvent vapor pressure depends on the temperature.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Gaben with the teaching above from Kizu et al. with the motivation of having a means such the resultant electrode would be obtained with the specific temperature for the drying step.
With respect to claims 10-12, Gaben further teach the method, comprises a step of drying the active material to be a porous electrode with porosity of between 25% and 50% and mesoporous structure in pore of the electrode.
Gaben does not specifically teach the method, wherein the drying regime is a moderate drying regime with moderate porosity and with a resultant electrode having enlonged mesostructure growth that is tens of microns in thickness and hundreds of microns in length, wherein the moderate drying regime occurs when solvent vapor pressure is ranges from 0.0035 atm to 0.006 atm, wherein the moderate drying regime occurs when a temperature of a platen supporting the printed slurry ranges from 25° C. to 45° C.
However, Kizu et al. teach a method of drying a composition of positive electrode active material at a temperature of 20 to 100 °C (overlapping 25 to 45 °C) (Kizu et al.: Section [0032]). In this case, the resultant electrode would be obtained and the solvent vapor pressure depends on the temperature.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Gaben with the teaching above from Kizu et al. with the motivation of having a means such the resultant electrode would be obtained with the specific temperature for the drying step.
With respect to claims 13-15, Gaben further teach the method, comprises a step of drying the active material to be a porous electrode with porosity of between 25% and 50% and mesoporous structure in pore of the electrode.
Gaben does not specifically teach the method, wherein the drying regime is a rapid drying regime with a resultant electrode having high porosity and with small aggregate mesostructures, wherein the rapid drying regime occurs when solvent vapor pressure is greater than 0.008 atm, the rapid drying regime occurs when a temperature of a platen supporting the printed slurry is greater than 50° C.
However, Kizu et al. teach a method of drying a composition of positive electrode active material at a temperature of 20 to 100 °C (overlapping 50 to 100 °C) (Kizu et al.: Section [0032]). In this case, the resultant electrode would be obtained and the solvent vapor pressure depends on the temperature.
It would have been obvious as of the effective filing dated of the claimed invention to have modified Gaben with the teaching above from Kizu et al. with the motivation of having a means such the resultant electrode would be obtained with the specific temperature for the drying step.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINGWEN R ZENG whose telephone number is (571)272-6649. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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/LINGWEN R ZENG/Examiner, Art Unit 1723 5/30/2026
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