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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the functional group R5 is defined twice and functional group R8 is not defined at all. Thus, the scope of the claim cannot be determined. For the purposes of this action, the second occurrence of R5 (line 5) is considered as a typo which is intended as the definition of R8.
Claims 2-21 are rejected due to the virtue of their dependence on claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 2-21 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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: Claim 1 requires “ A method for capturing CO2 from a gas mixture comprising CO2, the method comprising: contacting the gas mixture with a sorbent comprising a porous polymer, the porous polymer comprising a repeat unit represented by the formula:
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wherein each of R1, R4, and R5 is independently H, NH2, or a quaternary ammonium ion represented by
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, wherein each of R5 and R6 is independently a C1-C3 alkyl group, R7 is H or a C1-C2 alkyl group, and n is an integer from 1 to 8,
wherein each of R2 and R3 is independently selected from H,
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, or a quaternary ammonium ion represented by
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,
wherein at least one of R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 is a quaternary ammonium ion, wherein at least one of R2 and R3 is
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,
wherein the porous polymer selectively binds CO2 in the gas mixture to yield bound CO2, thereby removing CO2 from the gas, and
upon exposure to moisture, the porous polymer releases the bound CO2 to yield a recycled porous polymer.”
Dai et al., US 2014029470, and Ma et al., US 20200398252, are considered to be the closest prior art references.
The Dai et al. US 20140294701 reference discloses a functionalized mesoporous carbon composition comprising a mesoporous carbon scaffold having mesopores in which polyvinyl polymer grafts are covalently attached, wherein said mesopores, and a method for producing the functionalized mesoporous composition, wherein a reaction medium comprising a precursor mesoporous carbon, vinyl monomer, initiator, and solvent is subjected to sonication of sufficient power to result in grafting and polymerization of the vinyl monomer into mesopores of the precursor mesoporous carbon (Abstract). Specifically, a functionalized mesoporous carbon composition comprising a mesoporous carbon scaffold having mesopores including PAN (polyacrylonitrile)-AO(amidoxime)
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(FIG. 1). This functionalized mesoporous carbon absorbent composition is used for uranium recovery (Para [0016]). However, the reference teaches that generally mesoporous carbon materials are used for carbon capture (Para [0003]). Moreover, the `701 publication discloses the presence of a substantial amount of complementary pores (micro- and small mesopores) as anchoring points for the growing polymer (created by activation) and a more hydrophilic carbon surface (resulting from oxidation) may be crucial for improved performance, see Tables 4-5, [0114-0117]. The PAN-AO structure closely relates to the monomer structure of claim 1. The R1-R8 values are not as claimed. Thus the ‘701 reference does not teach or suggest “wherein each of R1, R4, and R5 is independently H, NH2, or a quaternary ammonium ion represented by
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, wherein each of R5 and R6 is independently a C1-C3 alkyl group, R7 is H or a C1-C2 alkyl group, and n is an integer from 1 to 8,
wherein each of R2 and R3 is independently selected from H,
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, or a quaternary ammonium ion represented by
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,
wherein at least one of R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 is a quaternary ammonium ion, wherein at least one of R2 and R3 is
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,
wherein the porous polymer selectively binds CO2 in the gas mixture to yield bound CO2, thereby removing CO2 from the gas, and
upon exposure to moisture, the porous polymer releases the bound CO2 to yield a recycled porous polymer.”
Ma et al. US 20200398252 teaches a porous organic polymer for water purification and remediation (Abstract). The reference teaches a monomer composition as follows:
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where each occurrence of R1 is independently a hydrogen, a halide, an alkyl or heteroalkyl having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, or a binding moiety, at least one occurrence of R1 is a binding moiety; where each occurrence of R2 is independently an alkyl having 1 to 3 carbon atoms; and where each occurrence of A2 is independently none or a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl (Para [0017]). In one embodiment the binding moiety is also defined as
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(Para [0018]). This reads on claimed quaternary ammonium functional group for the claimed R1-R5 groups. The composition of the ‘8252 publication reads on the claimed composition. However, there is no mention of treating a gas mixture with this composition for CO2 capture. Thus this reference does not teach or suggest : A method for capturing CO2 from a gas mixture comprising CO2, the method comprising: contacting the gas mixture with a sorbent comprising a porous polymer, the porous polymer comprising a repeat unit represented by the formula:
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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED TAHA IQBAL whose telephone number is (571)270-5857. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 7-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Zimmer can be reached at (571) 270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SYED T IQBAL/Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/ANTHONY J ZIMMER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1736
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