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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mikoshiba et al (US 2021/0079543 A1).
Mikoshiba et al teach (see abstract, figs. 1 and 3, paragraphs [0013]-[0019] and [0059]-[0063]) an electrolytic device (10) comprising:
an electrolytic tank (7 in fig. 1 or space between current collector plates 33 and 34 in fig. 3);
an ion exchange membrane (6) configured to partition the electrolytic tank into a cathode chamber (3) and an anode chamber (5);
a catholyte supply unit (17, as well as tank, pump and “so on” described in paragraph [0061]) configured to supply an electrolytic solution serving as a catholyte to the cathode chamber;
a catholyte discharge unit (conduits connecting cathode chamber 3 and separator 12) configured to discharge the catholyte from the cathode chamber;
an anolyte supply unit (18, as well as tank, pump and “so on” described in paragraph [0062]) configured to supply an electrolytic solution serving as an anolyte to the anode chamber;
an anolyte discharge unit (conduits connecting anode chamber 5 and separator 13) configured to discharge the anolyte from the anode chamber;
a cathode (8) provided on a surface of the ion exchange membrane on the cathode chamber side;
an anode (9) provided on a surface of the ion exchange membrane on the anode chamber side;
a cathode side power feeder (33) provided in the cathode chamber and configured to supply electric power to the cathode; and,
an anode side power feeder (34) provided in the anode chamber and configured to supply electric power to the anode.
Mikoshiba et al expressly teach (see paragraph [0019]) that the pH of the second electrolytic solution (anolyte, 4) is higher than the pH of the first electrolytic solution (catholyte, 2).
Regarding claims 2-5, Mikoshiba et al teach (see paragraphs [0020]-[0022]) both the catholyte and anolyte being aqueous solutions, with the main component of both catholyte and anolyte being water (e.g. industrial water) and the anolyte containing an additional substance such as an alkali metal hydroxide. The catholyte additionally contains a pH buffer compound (alkali metal carbonates such as potassium carbonate) with the range required by claim 5. The hydroxide concentration in the anolyte (i.e. substance B) is higher than the hydroxide concentration in the catholyte (inherently present due to dissociation of water into proton (H+) and hydroxyl ions (OH-).
Regarding claim 6, Mikoshiba et al teach (see paragraphs [0031]) that the ion exchange membrane may be an anion exchange membrane and provides several examples (Fumasep®) that have the inherent property of having monovalent selectivity.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma et al (US 2020/0220185 A1) in view of Xiang et al (US 2020/0378016 A1).
Ma et al teach (see abstract, figs. 1D and 10, and paragraphs [0079]-[0084] and [0282]-[0286]) an electrolytic device comprising an electrolytic tank (entirety of cell in fig. 10), an ion exchange membrane (1060, fig. 10) configured to partition the electrolytic tank into a cathode chamber (left-hand side) and an anode chamber (right-hand side), a catholyte supply unit (109+113+104+125a, fig. 1D) configured to supply an electrolytic solution serving as a catholyte to the cathode chamber, a catholyte discharge unit (125b+107+115+108, fig. 1D) configured to discharge the catholyte from the cathode chamber, an anolyte supply unit (119+111+125c, fig. 1D) configured to supply an electrolytic solution serving as an anolyte to the anode chamber, an anolyte discharge unit (125d+119, fig. 1D) configured to discharge the anolyte from the anode chamber, a cathode (1020) provided on a surface of the ion exchange membrane on the cathode chamber side, an anode (1040) provided on a surface of the ion exchange membrane on the anode chamber side, a cathode side power feeder (1026) provided in the cathode chamber and configured to supply electric power to the cathode, and an anode side power feeder (1046) provided in the anode chamber and configured to supply electric power to the anode.
Ma et al fail to teach the pH of the catholyte being lower than he pH of the anolyte.
Xiang et al teach (see abstract, fig. 1, paragraphs [0021]-[0022], [0038]-[0039] and Example 2, paragraphs [0069]-[0070]) performing the same electrolytic reactions as those taught by Ma et al, but wherein the pH of the catholyte was independently maintained at a lower value than the pH of the anolyte in order to improve the overall efficiency of the electrolytic device by using a pH level that was individually optimized for the cathode reaction and anode reaction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the electrolytic device of Ma et al according to the suggestion of Xiang et al by maintaining the pH of the catholyte at a lower value than the pH of the anolyte to achieve improved efficiency by individually optimizing the pH of the solutions for the cathode reaction and anode reaction.
Regarding claim 6, Ma et al teach (see paragraphs [0112]-[0117]) that the membrane may be an anion exchange membrane, but that the particular material was not critical and provided numerous examples. At least some of these examples of anion exchange membrane are considered to inherently possess monovalent anion selectivity. Note that the instant specification recites Fumasep® FAA-3 as a suitable anion exchange membrane and Ma et al expressly mention Fumasep® FAA.
Regarding claims 7 and 9, Ma et al teach (see paragraph [0118]) using a bipolar membrane including an anion-conducting polymer layer on the cathode chamber side and a cation-conducting polymer layer on the anode chamber side. At least some of the examples of anion exchange membrane and cation exchange membrane (see paragraphs [0117]) are considered to inherently possess monovalent anion/cation selectivity. Note that the instant specification recites Fumasep® FAA-3 as a suitable anion exchange membrane and Ma et al expressly mention Fumasep® FAA.
Claims 1, 2, 6, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang et al (US 2020/0370188 A1) in view of and Oener et al (US 2020/00370188 A1).
Xiang et al teach (see abstract, figs. 1 and 3A, paragraphs [0021]-[0023], [0027]-[0028], [0038]-[0039], and [0052]) an electrolytic device comprising an electrolytic tank (entire cell structure), an ion exchange membrane (14) configured to partition the electrolytic tank into a cathode chamber (right-hand side of fig. 1, left-hand side of fig. 3A) and an anode chamber (left-hand side of fig. 1, right-hand side of fig. 3A), a catholyte supply unit (66) configured to supply an electrolytic solution (12) to the cathode chamber as a catholyte, a catholyte discharge unit (50) configured to discharge the catholyte from the cathode chamber, an anolyte supply unit (68) configured to supply an electrolytic solution (10) to the anode chamber as an anolyte, an anolyte discharge unit (50) configured to discharge the anolyte from the anode chamber, a cathode provided (22) in the cathode chamber, an anode (28) provided in the anode chamber, a cathode side power feeder (left-hand 34 in fig. 3A) configured to supply electric power to the cathode, an anode side power feeder (right-hand 34 in fig. 3A) configured to supply electric power to the anode, wherein a pH of the catholyte is lower than a pH of the anolyte. Note that the membrane of Xiang et al is a bipolar membrane.
Xiang et al fail to teach the cathode and the anode being provided as a layer on the surface of the membrane.
Oener et al teach (see abstract, figures 1-3) providing the anode and the cathode in an electrolytic cell as layers adjacent to a bipolar membrane. Oener et al teach (see paragraph [0077]) that the anode and cathode being positioned on the opposing surfaces of the bipolar membrane permitted the electrolytic cell to operate with ultrapure water, which (see paragraph [0056]) permitted elimination of the effects of impurities.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have positioned the cathode and anode of Xiang et al on a surface of the membrane as suggested by Oener et al for the purpose of permitting the bipolar membrane to operate with ultrapure water thereby eliminating problems associated with impurities.
Regarding claim 2, Xiang et al teach (see Example 1, paragraphs [0061]-[0062]) that the catholyte was an aqueous solution comprising water and that the anolyte was an aqueous solution comprising water and an alkali metal hydroxide.
Regarding claim 6, the bipolar membrane of Xiang et al included an anion exchange membrane.
Regarding claim 8, the membrane of Xiang et al was a bipolar membrane having the anion exchange membrane layer facing the anode chamber and the cation exchange membrane layer facing the cathode chamber.
Conclusion
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/HARRY D WILKINS III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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