DETAILED ACTION
This is the first Office Action regarding application number 18/618,776, filed on 03/27/2024, which is a CON of PCT/JP2022/035040, filed on 09/20/2022, and which claims foreign priority to JP 2021-158482, filed on 09/28/2021.
This action is in response to the Applicant’s Response received 08/05/2026.
Election of Restricted Inventions
The Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-8) in the reply is acknowledged.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-24 are pending.
Claims 9-24 are withdrawn.
Claims 1-8 are examined.
No claim is allowed.
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 and 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DENG (CN 106711338 A; English machine translation provided).
Regarding claim 1, DENG teaches a photoelectric conversion element (Fig. 4) comprising:
a first electrode (transparent conductive glass layer 21);
a photoelectric conversion layer (perovskite layer 23); and
a second electrode (metal electrode layer 25), wherein
the photoelectric conversion layer comprises a photoelectric conversion material and a phosphate ester (phosphate esters are added and include triphenyl phosphate, paras. 11 and 13),
the photoelectric conversion material is a perovskite compound, and
the perovskite compound comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Yb, Lu, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, U, and Np (CsSnI3 is one example of perovskite used, para. 32).
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DENG reports that the addition of the phosphate ester inhibits tin oxidation and reduces ion vacancies of tin, increases the number of effective photogenerated carriers, and increases perovskite solar cell efficiency (para. 18).
Regarding claim 3, DENG teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein the phosphate ester is present between crystals of the perovskite compound (the phosphate ester improves crystal form, thus indicating that it is present between crystals, para. 55).
Regarding claim 4, DENG teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein
the photoelectric conversion material is represented by the following chemical formula (1):
ABX3 (1), where
A is a monovalent cation,
B is at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Yb, Lu, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, U, and Np, and
X is a halogen element and includes I (CsSnI3 is one example of perovskite used, para. 32).
Regarding claim 5, DENG teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 4, wherein the A includes Cs (CsSnI3 is one example of perovskite used, para. 32).
Regarding claim 6, DENG teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein the phosphate ester has a boiling point of 200°C or higher (triphenyl phosphate has known boiling point of 370C).
Regarding claim 7, DENG teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein the phosphate ester comprises triphenyl phosphate (phosphate esters are added and include triphenyl phosphate, paras. 11 and 13).
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DENG (CN 106711338 A; English machine translation provided) in view of CHEN (“Highly stable and efficient all-inorganic lead-free perovskite solar cells with native-oxide passivation”).
Regarding claim 2, DENG teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, but does not disclose expressly that the perovskite compound comprises Ge.
CHEN explains that the search for lead-free perovskites is a priority, because of the toxicity of lead. CHEN states that several low-toxicity cations have been proposed for replacing lead in halide perovskites including tin and germanium. CHEN further states that the all-inorganic lead-free CsSnI3 perovskite is an attractive candidate, but may suffer from phase instability of tin because of oxidation. CHEN reports, however, that simply alloying germanium in CsSnI3 causes the perovskite film to be highly stable and air tolerant (see, generally, pg. 2, left col., para. 1).
Skilled artisans would have found it obvious to modify DENG and add germanium in order to form a perovskite film having high stability and air tolerance as taught by CHEN.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DENG (CN 106711338 A; English machine translation provided).
Regarding claim 8, DENG teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein an amount of the phosphate ester in the photoelectric conversion layer is more than 0 mol% and 9 mol% or less (overlapping range of ester of 0.01 to 1.0 M, described in para. 41).
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELO TRIVISONNO whose telephone number is (571) 272-5201 or by email at <angelo.trivisonno@uspto.gov>. The examiner can normally be reached on MONDAY-FRIDAY, 9:00a-5:00pm EST. The examiner's supervisor, NIKI BAKHTIARI, can be reached at (571) 272-3433.
/ANGELO TRIVISONNO/
Primary Examiner
Prosecution Insights