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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/29/2024 and 08/28/2025 were in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka et al. (US 2021/0028436 A1) in view of Honda (US 2017/0309966 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Tanaka teaches a method for manufacturing (production method, [0030]) a bipolar electrode laminate (bipolar electrode, [0024]) having a first electrode active material layer, a current collector layer, and a second electrode active material layer in this order (bipolar electrodes 23 in which a positive electrode active material layer 13 electrically bonded to one surface of a current collector 11 is formed and a negative electrode active material layer 15 bonded to the other surface of the current collector 11 is formed; [0024]), the method comprising the following steps:
providing a first electrode mixture comprising a first electrode active material, (electrode active material slurry including an electrode active material, a lithium salt, and a non-aqueous solvent … for forming a negative electrode active material layer intended for forming a negative electrode active material layer; [0041]), and a first binder (content of the binder is preferably 1% by mass or less, [0049]),
and a second electrode mixture comprising a second electrode active material, (electrode active material slurry including an electrode active material, a lithium salt, and a non-aqueous solvent … for forming a positive electrode active material layer; [0041]), a second binder (content of the binder is preferably 1% by mass or less, [0049]) and an electrolyte component (electrode active material slurry including a lithium salt, [0041]),
forming the first electrode mixture on a first surface of a current collector layer (a metal or a resin having electrical conductivity can be employed as the current collector, [0079]) to form a first electrode active material layer precursor (step of applying an electrode active material slurry on the surface of a current collector and thereby forming a coating film, [0030]), and forming the second electrode mixture on a second surface of the current collector layer to form a second electrode active material layer precursor (current collector has one face that is in contact with the positive electrode active material layer to the other face that is in contact with the negative electrode active material layer, [0079]; see also active material layers 13 and 15 on two faces of 11),
pressing … the first electrode active material layer precursor (pressing performed in positive electrode production, [0173]), … and the second electrode active material layer precursor (pressing performed in negative electrode production, [0176]), and
dissolving the electrolyte component in the second electrode active material layer with a solvent (a lithium salt and a non-aqueous solvent are mixed with an electrode active material, [0041, 0068]; LiPF6 as preferred lithium salt, [0071]; LiPF6 dissolved by mixed solvent, [0162]) to produce an electrolytic solution (thereby an electrolyte solution was obtained, [0162]).
Tanaka fails to explicitly teach:
pressing “a laminate comprising the first electrode active material layer precursor, the current collector layer, and the second electrode active material layer precursor”;
the production of the above-cited electrolytic solution “after pressing”.
Tanaka at [0030] does generally teach pressing the assembly which includes the applied electrode active material slurries. Tanaka also teaches at [0038] toward an embodiment of drying the electrode active material before mixing with lithium salt and solvent.
Honda is analogous in the art of bipolar batteries ([0002]) and teaches manufacturing includes a pressing unit pressing a laminate of power generating elements ([0218]), and that such pressure compression makes each layer dense and gives a well bonded state ([0251]). Honda also teaches it is a known technique to perform said pressing on a dry electrode active mixture in order to increase the density of the electrode active material layer ([0229, 0233]).
Therefore, a person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to press the laminate comprising the first electrode active material layer precursor, the current collector layer, and the second electrode active material layer precursor of Tanaka while in a dry state (i.e., before addition of liquid solvent to dissolve the lithium salt electrolyte component) in order to beneficially increase the density of the electrode active material layers in the laminate as well as ensure a well-bonded state of the electrode active material layers against the current collector therebetween, as taught toward by Honda. Furthermore, Tanaka welcomes [0042] that the order of adding members is also not particularly limited.
Thereby, claim 1 is rendered obvious.
Regarding claim 2, modified Tanaka teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the electrolyte component is a lithium salt (Tanaka [0011, 0030, 0041, 0068, 0071]).
Regarding claim 3, modified Tanaka teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode active material layer is a positive electrode active material layer (one face that is in contact with the positive electrode active material layer, Tanaka [0079]), and the second electrode active material layer is a negative electrode active material layer (the other face that is in contact with the negative electrode active material layer, Tanaka [0079]) (a positive electrode active material layer 13 electrically bonded to one surface of a current collector 11 is formed and a negative electrode active material layer 15 bonded to the other surface of the current collector 11 is formed, Tanaka [0024 and Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 4, modified Tanaka teaches a method for manufacturing a bipolar battery (a method for producing a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, Tanaka [0030]), comprising manufacturing the bipolar electrode laminate by the method according to claim 1 (bipolar laminates 23 shown in overall battery 10 in Tanaka Fig. 1; see also citations in rejection of claim 1 above).
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Han et al. (“Using Mixed Salt Electrolytes to Stabilize Silicon Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries via in Situ Formation of Li−M−Si Ternaries (M = Mg, Zn, Al, Ca)”, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 29780−29790, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b07270) teaches toward the above-cited limitations of the electrode mixtures containing binders, as well as specifically the second (negative) electrode mixture containing the electrolyte component (salt):
One of the main ways identified by researchers to stabilize Si anodes has been to use more compatible and flexible anode binders (Han pg. 29780, bottom of col. 2).
Replacing traditional graphite anode by Si anode can greatly improve the energy density of lithium-ion batteries (Han abstract); a novel approach to modify the silicon electrode surface composition is reported based on adding M(TFSI)x (M = Mg, Zn, Al, and Ca) as a second salt (to LiPF6 per Han abstract) into the electrolyte formulation in low concentrations to promote an in situ formation of amorphous Li−M−Si ternary phases during the charging process (Han pg. 29781, col. 1, para. 2).
Adding M salts leads to the co-insertion of M cations along with Li into Si during the lithiation process, stabilizing silicon anions by forming more stable Li−M−Si ternaries, which fundamentally changes the traditional Li−Si binary chemistry while minimally affecting silicon electrochemical profiles and theoretical capacities (Han abstract).
Lu (US-20240154126-A1) teaches the anode electrode includes a second solid electrolyte ([0009]), a method for making a bipolar battery cell includes manufacturing a bipolar electrode by … forming an anode electrode by pressing a dry anode mixture including a second solid electrolyte, anode active material, a second conductive additive, and second PTFE particles … and press binding together the anode mixture; and laminating the cathode electrode and the anode electrode onto opposite sides of a bipolar current collector ([0011]), but teaches such mixture without the use of solvent ([0011, 0036-0037]). Lu further teaches high press density benefits energy density of electrode layers ([0045]).
Dougherty (US-20110059340-A1) teaches the process used to meld the anode material and the cathode material together can just the use of pressure to form the bipolar plate ([0031]), and teaches liquid electrolytes including a lithium salt acting as a lithium ion carrier between the cathode and the anode ([0036]).
Shimamura (US-20090233164-A1) teaches a slurry for a negative electrode is a solution containing the negative electrode active material and a raw material of a polymer gel electrolyte, a lithium salt or the like ([0177]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jessie Walls-Murray whose telephone number is (571)272-1664. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, typically 10-4.
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/JESSIE WALLS-MURRAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1728
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