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 § 102
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
1. Claims 1, 3 and 4, 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Deng et al. (US20240097138, PCT Filed 9/22/21)
2. Regarding claims 1, 3, and 4, 9-12, Deng teaches a negative electrode active material (abstract), comprising: silicon-containing oxide particles, wherein the silicon-containing oxide particles comprise silicon and a Li dopant and comprise a first covering layer and a second covering layer on a surface of the silicon-containing oxide particles, and each of the first covering layer and the second covering layer is independently a carbon layer, and an irreversible material formed by doping the silicon-containing oxide with Li is absent between the first covering layer and the second covering layer (see Figs. below).
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3. Deng teaches a negative electrode slurry comprising the negative electrode active material (preparation of lithium-ion battery: the composite materials prepared in the above examples and comparative examples were used as negative electrode active materials, and the negative electrode active material, conductive carbon black, CMC, and SBR were thoroughly mixed in a mass ratio of 75:15:4:6 and then applied on copper foil to prepare a negative electrode sheet [0158])
4. Deng teaches negative electrode comprising the negative electrode active material, and a secondary battery, comprising: the negative electrode active material (Provided are a composite material and a preparation method thereof, a negative electrode material, and a lithium ion battery, abstract)
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 of this title, 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.
5. Claims 6-8 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deng et al. (US20240097138, PCT Filed 9/22/21) as applied to claim 1 in view of Rohani et al. (US 20210114886)
6. Rohani teaches wherein the silicon-containing oxide particles comprise Si crystal grains having a particle diameter ranging from 1 nm to 15 nm (silicon nanoparticles have a longest dimension (e.g., a diameter) of 5-250 nm, including all nm values and ranges therebetween (e.g., 5-150 nm [0123]).
7. Rohani teaches doping the silicon-containing oxide particles (silicon upon lithium incorporation [0101]; corresponds to Li—Si alloy formation (Li0→1.71Si) [0108]) removing, by etching, an irreversible material formed by a silicon-containing oxide and Li on the silicon-containing silicon based oxide particles having the first covering layer (After carbon coating, acid etching is used, for example, to remove the oxide layer [0049]); and forming a second covering layer comprising carbon ((f) carbon coating the clusters for a second time by repeating step b) [0034]) on the silicon-containing oxide particles having the etched first covering layer is formed ((b) Carbon coating (e.g., carbon coating by chemical vapor deposition) the silica-coated silicon nanoparticles in a furnace [0030])
8. Rohani teaches wherein the etching is performed using at least one of NaOH, HF or KOH (sodium hydroxide etching [0052]).
9. Rohani teaches wherein the first covering layer is formed by injecting a carbon-containing raw material gas ((b) Carbon coating (e.g., carbon coating by chemical vapor deposition) the silica-coated silicon nanoparticles in a furnace (e.g., in a furnace heated to 900° C. using a gas (e.g., acetylene gas)) [0030]) and performing a heat treatment in a rotary tubular furnace (A laboratory rotary furnace is functionally equivalent to rotary kilns that can be operated continuously and at tonnage scales [0050]) for the benefit of high capacity electrode materials. [0003]
10. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Deng with Rohani’s teachings for the benefit of high-capacity electrode materials.
11. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deng et al. (US20240097138, PCT Filed 9/22/21) as applied to claim 1 in view of Chung et al. (US 20220263081 filed 10/7/21)
12. Chung teaches an amount of the Li dopant ranges from 1 wt % or more and 15 wt % or less based on 100 wt % of the total amount of the negative electrode active material (the lithium doping may be performed in an amount of 3.5 to 9.5 wt. % based on the total weight of the silicon-based anode active material, preferably 3.7 to 8.0 wt. %, and more preferably 4.0 to 7.0 wt. % [0041]) for the benefit of a lithium secondary battery having high discharge capacity and high energy density characteristics (abstract).
13. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Deng with Chung’s teachings for the benefit of a lithium secondary battery having high discharge capacity and high energy density characteristics.
14. Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deng et al. (US20240097138, PCT Filed 9/22/21) as applied to claim 1 in view of Huang et al. (US 20120164535)
15. Huang teaches wherein the second covering layer comprises at least one of an aluminum phosphate layer and a carbon layer (The AlPO4/C composite layer includes aluminum phosphate and carbon to increase the electrochemical stability of a lithium battery. (abstract).
16. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Deng with Huang’s teachings for the benefit of increasing the electrochemical stability of a lithium battery.
17. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deng et al. (US20240097138, PCT Filed 9/22/21) as applied to claim 1 in view of Aurora et al. (US 20180198116)
18. Aurora teaches wherein the silicon-containing silicon-based oxide particles have a BET specific surface area of ranging from 0.5 m2/g to 60 m2/g (The resulting μpSi is optionally tailored for a desired Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. A BET surface area is optionally 10 m2/g to 500 m2/g or any value or range therebetween, optionally 20 m2/g to 200 m2/g, optionally 20 m2/g to 100 m2/g [0047]; microporous silicon (μpSi) [0004]) for the benefit of excellent cycle life and safety (abstract)
19. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Deng with Aurora’s teachings for the benefit of excellent cycle life and safety.
Conclusion
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/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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