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 2/3/24 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 2/3/24. These drawings are acceptable.
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 19 and 20 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.
Claim 19 recites, “The solid electrolyte according to claim 8, wherein the solid electrolyte contains two or more types of the plastic crystals.” However, claim 8 is directed to a “method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte,” not to a solid electrolyte. Therefore, it is unclear whether claim 19 is intended to further limit the method of claim 8 or instead is intended to recite a solid electrolyte composition. Because claim 19 refers to a product “according to” a method claim, the metes and bounds of the claim are unclear.
Claim 20 recites, “The solid electrolyte according to claim 8,” and further recites limitations directed to the plastic crystals and bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide content of the solid electrolyte. However, claim 8 is directed to a “method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte,” not to a solid electrolyte. Therefore, it is unclear whether claim 20 is intended to further limit the method of claim 8 or instead is intended to recite a solid electrolyte composition. Because claim 20 refers to a product “according to” a method claim, the metes and bounds of the claim are unclear.
Accordingly, claims 19 and 20 fail to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter regarded as the invention.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 5-9, 12-14, and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2020-167025 A (JP’025) in view of CN 111370757 A (CN’757).
As to Claim 1:
JP’025 discloses a solid electrolyte comprising a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof. Specifically, JP’025 teaches that the solid electrolyte contains an ionic salt doped as an electrolyte in a parent phase formed of a plastic crystal, and further includes a polymer that can be selected from one or more of polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyester, polyethylene carbonate (PEC), a derivative of PEC, polypropylene carbonate, polytrimethylene carbonate, or a copolymer of polytrimethylene carbonate and polycarbonate. JP’025 further discloses that the polymer is preferably present in the solid electrolyte in the range of 3 wt% or more and 50 wt% or less with respect to the plastic crystal, and that the ionic salt may be contained in the solid electrolyte at a ratio of 0.1 mol% or more and 50 mol% or less with respect to the total amount of plastic crystals (JP’025, Pg. 2-6).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose containing the carbonate polymer or derivative thereof so that a proportion of a monomer unit of the carbonate polymer or derivative thereof is 293 mol% or more and 782 mol% or less relative to the plastic crystal, and does not explicitly disclose containing the lithium salt at a proportion of 75 mol% or more relative to the plastic crystal.
CN’757 discloses a solid electrolyte comprising a polymer, an organic ionic plastic crystal, and a lithium salt. CN’757 teaches that the mass ratio of the polymer and the organic ionic plastic crystal is 1:0.1 to 1:10, and the mass ratio of the polymer and the lithium salt is 1:0.05 to 1:1. By teaching wide-ranging composition parameters that encompass high relative amounts of both polymer and lithium salt relative to the plastic crystal baseline, such as a mass ratio of polymer to organic ionic plastic crystal up to 1:10 and a mass ratio of polymer to lithium salt up to 1:1, CN’757 discloses composition variables that inherently encompass and map to the claimed relative molar boundaries (CN’757, Pg. 2-3, 5-6).
JP’025 and CN’757 are analogous arts because both references operate in the same technical field of novel solid electrolytes for lithium secondary batteries, and both references are directed to solving the identical technical problems of suppressing crystallinity, enhancing safety against leakage or combustion, and maximizing room-temperature ionic conductivity within a plastic crystal matrix system (JP’025, Pg. 1-2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 1-3).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the solid electrolyte composition of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757 to expand the relative proportions of the uncrosslinked carbonate polymer and the lithium salt with respect to the plastic crystal. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to adjust these relative proportions to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of carrier ion density and lattice pathway spacing, with the reasonable expectation of increasing the number of active ion conductive sites, smoothing the migration of carrier ions via rotational hopping mechanism, and expanding the potential window for high-voltage battery operations (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3).
As to Claim 2:
See the rejection of Claim 1, from which Claim 2 depends; JP’025 discloses a solid electrolyte according to claim 1, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof; and JP’025 discloses that regarding the plastic crystal, one type of plastic crystal may be used alone, or two or more types of them may be combined (JP’025, Pg. 1-7).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where the solid electrolyte contains two or more types of the plastic crystals in combination with the specific relative molar ranges of the carbonate polymer monomer unit and the lithium salt recited in Claim 1.
CN’757 discloses a solid electrolyte containing organic ionic plastic crystal, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a polymer, an organic ionic plastic crystal, and a lithium salt. CN’757 teaches that as for the ionic plastic crystals, only one type may be used alone, or two or more types may be used in combination. By teaching that multiple types of plastic crystals can be used in combination within a solid polymer electrolyte system, CN’757 provides explicit guidance to utilize two or more types of plastic crystals to tune electrolyte properties (CN’757, Pg. 1-3, 5-6).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to combine two or more types of plastic crystals inside the solid electrolyte of JP’025 as taught by CN’757. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to utilize a mixture of two or more different plastic crystal species to intentionally disrupt the regular orientation of the crystal lattice, thereby generating internal structural defects that successfully lower bulk crystallinity, widen lattice distances, and maximize the overall ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte system (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3).
As to Claim 5:
See the rejection of Claim 1, from which Claim 5 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 1, wherein the solid electrolyte comprises a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof; and JP’025 discloses that the lithium salt functions as an electrolyte salt that dissociates into positive ions and negative ions to migrate through vacancies in the crystalline lattice structure via the coordinate rotation of the neighboring plastic crystal species (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7).
As to Claim 6:
See the rejection of Claim 1, from which Claim 6 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 1, wherein the solid electrolyte comprises a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof; JP’025 discloses that the polymer is an uncrosslinked polymer; and JP’025 discloses that the uncrosslinked polymer includes one or more of polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyester, polyethylene carbonate, a derivative of polyethylene carbonate, polypropylene carbonate, polytrimethylene carbonate, or a copolymer of polytrimethylene carbonate and polycarbonate (JP’025, Pg. 1, 5-7, 13).
As to Claim 7:
See the rejection of Claim 1, from which Claim 7 depends; JP’025 discloses a power storage device, comprising the solid electrolyte according to claim 1; JP’025 discloses that the solid electrolyte contains a plastic crystal, an electrolyte salt, and a polymer; and JP’025 discloses that the power storage device consists of positive and negative electrodes facing each other with the solid electrolyte sandwiched between them (JP’025, Pg. 1-2, 5-7, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where the solid electrolyte sandwiched between the opposing electrodes contains the carbonate polymer or derivative thereof and the lithium salt within the precise relative monomer unit and salt molar percentages required by Claim 1.
CN’757 discloses a power storage device comprising a lithium secondary battery. CN’757 teaches that the lithium secondary battery includes an electrolyte membrane prepared by dissolving and solution casting a carbonate polymer, an organic ionic plastic crystal, and a lithium salt. CN’757 further teaches that the positive electrode material and the negative electrode composite material are stacked to form a laminate according to the order from bottom to top with the electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween, and teaches that the wide-ranging weight blending boundaries of these components inherently map to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries of Claim 1 (CN’757, Pg. 2-4, 6).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to manufacture the power storage device of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757 to expand the relative proportions of the uncrosslinked carbonate polymer and the lithium salt with respect to the plastic crystal inside the sandwiched solid electrolyte layer. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the electrolyte composition within the device to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of carrier ion density and lattice pathway spacing, with the reasonable expectation of increasing active ion conductive sites, smoothing the migration of carrier ions via a hopping mechanism, and expanding the potential window for stable high-voltage battery operation (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-4).
As to Claim 8:
JP’025 discloses a method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte, comprising: a step of mixing a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof. Specifically, JP’025 teaches that a plastic crystal, an electrolyte/ionic salt, and an uncrosslinked polymer are added to a vial bottle; JP’025 teaches that an organic solvent is further added to the vial to prepare an organic solvent solution in which the components are dissolved; JP’025 teaches that the uncrosslinked polymer includes one or more of polyethylene carbonate (PEC) or polypropylene carbonate; and JP’025 teaches that the components are cast on an object such as an active material layer or a separator, and dried to volatilize the solvent to form a solid electrolyte (JP’025, Pg. 5-7).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose containing the carbonate polymer or derivative thereof in the mixing step so that a proportion of a monomer unit of the carbonate polymer or derivative thereof is 293 mol% or more and 782 mol% or less relative to the plastic crystal, and does not explicitly disclose containing the lithium salt at a proportion of 75 mol% or more relative to the plastic crystal.
CN’757 discloses a manufacturing method of a solid electrolyte film containing a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer. CN’757 teaches a step where the polymer, ionic plastic crystal, and lithium salt are dissolved in an organic solvent under magnetic stirring to obtain a mixed solution, which is then coated on a template and dried in vacuum to obtain an electrolyte membrane. CN’757 explicitly teaches that the components are mixed in wide weight ratios, where the mass ratio of the polymer and the organic ionic plastic crystal is 1:0.1 to 1:10, and the mass ratio of the polymer and the lithium salt is 1:0.05 to 1:1. By teaching wide-ranging processing weight ratios that encompass high relative amounts of both polymer and lithium salt relative to the plastic crystal baseline, such as a mass ratio of polymer to organic ionic plastic crystal up to 1:10 and a mass ratio of polymer to lithium salt up to 1:1, CN’757 teaches composition blending variables that inherently encompass and map to the claimed relative monomer and lithium salt molar boundaries (CN’757, Pg. 2-4, 6).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters during the mixing step as taught in CN’757 to expand the relative proportions of the uncrosslinked carbonate polymer and the lithium salt with respect to the plastic crystal. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to adjust these mixing proportions to routinely optimize the result-effective processing variables of carrier ion density and crystal lattice pathway spacing, with the reasonable expectation of increasing the number of active ion conductive sites, facilitating smooth ion hopping migration through the matrix gaps, and expanding the potential window for stable high-voltage battery operations (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-4).
As to Claim 9:
See the rejection of Claim 8, from which Claim 9 depends; JP’025 discloses the method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte according to claim 8, comprising a step of mixing a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof within the specified relative molar proportions; and JP’025 discloses that in the mixing step, an organic solvent such as acetone or volatile solvents such as acetonitrile may be added to the vial to prepare an organic solvent solution in which the components are dissolved (JP’025, Pg. 5-7).
As to Claim 12:
See the rejection of Claim 2, from which Claim 12 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 2, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and two or more types of plastic crystals; and JP’025 discloses that the lithium salt functions as an electrolyte salt that dissociates into positive ions and negative ions to migrate through vacancies in the crystalline lattice structure via the coordinate rotation of the neighboring plastic crystal species (JP’025, Pg. 2-7).
As to Claim 13:
See the rejection of Claim 2, from which Claim 13 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 2, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and two or more types of plastic crystals; and JP’025 discloses that the polymer is an uncrosslinked polymer, wherein the uncrosslinked polymer includes one or more of polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyester, polyethylene carbonate, a derivative of polyethylene carbonate, polypropylene carbonate, polytrimethylene carbonate, or a copolymer of polytrimethylene carbonate and polycarbonate (JP’025, Pg. 2-7, 13).
As to Claim 14:
See the rejection of Claim 2, from which Claim 14 depends; JP’025 discloses a power storage device comprising the solid electrolyte according to claim 2, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and two or more types of plastic crystals; and JP’025 discloses that the power storage device comprises both electrodes disposed to face each other with the solid electrolyte sandwiched therebetween (JP’025, Pg. 1-7, 13).
Claims 3 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2020-167025 A (JP’025) in view of CN 111370757 A (CN’757), as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of JP 7206798 B2 (JP’081).
As to Claim 3:
See the rejection of Claim 1, from which Claim 3 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 1, wherein the solid electrolyte contains one type or two or more types of plastic crystals; and JP’025 discloses that an anion constituting the plastic crystal can be selected from the group of disulfonylamides, which includes bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide (JP’025, Pg. 2-4, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where one type, a plurality of types, or all types of the plastic crystals contain bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide such that the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide is contained at 20 mol% or more in anions of an entirety of the plastic crystal in combination with the specific relative molar ranges of the carbonate polymer monomer unit and the lithium salt required by Claim 1.
CN’757 discloses a solid electrolyte system blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries of Claim 1 (CN’757, Pg. 2-3, 5-6). Further, JP’081 explicitly discloses a lithium ion conductive solid electrolyte comprising an organic ionic plastic crystal composed of a pyrrolidinium-type cation and a bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI/FSA) anion. JP’081 teaches a stoichiometric configuration where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion is present on a 1:1 molar basis relative to the crystal’s cations, thereby constituting 100 mol% of the anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal (JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-16).
JP’025, CN’757, and JP’081 are analogous arts because all three references operate in the same technical field of solid polymer electrolytes containing organic plastic crystals and lithium salts for secondary batteries, and all three references are directed to solving the identical technical problems of suppressing electrolyte phase crystallinity, eliminating cell safety hazards, and maximizing room-temperature ionic conductivity (JP’025, Pg. 1-2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 1-3; JP’081, Pg. 1-5, 13-14).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the solid electrolyte composition of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757, and further incorporating the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide plastic crystal matrix parameters taught in JP’081 where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide constitutes 20 mol% or more in anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to utilize a high proportion of compact, near-spherical bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide anions within the plastic crystal lattice to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of crystal orientation and phase rotation, with the reasonable expectation of lowering rotational friction barriers, expanding local lattice migration paths, and enhancing high-speed carrier lithium-ion hopping velocity through the solid electrolyte phase (JP’025, Pg. 2-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3; JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-14).
As to Claim 16:
See the rejection of Claim 3, from which Claim 16 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 3, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and one or two or more types of plastic crystals containing bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide; and JP’025 discloses that the lithium salt functions as an electrolyte salt that dissociates into positive ions and negative ions to migrate through vacancies in the crystalline lattice structure via the coordinate rotation of the neighboring plastic crystal species (JP’025, Pg. 2-7, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where the ion-dissociative lithium salt is contained at a proportion of 75 mol% or more relative to the plastic crystal matrix containing bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide in combination with the specific relative molar ranges of the carbonate polymer monomer unit required by Claim 1.
CN’757 discloses a solid electrolyte system blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries of Claim 1 (CN’757, Pg. 2-3, 5-6). Further, JP’081 explicitly discloses a lithium ion conductive solid electrolyte comprising an organic ionic plastic crystal composed of a pyrrolidinium-type cation and a bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI/FSA) anion. JP’081 teaches a stoichiometric configuration where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion is present on a 1:1 molar basis relative to the crystal’s cations, thereby constituting 100 mol% of the anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal (JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-16).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the solid electrolyte composition of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757, and further incorporating the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide plastic crystal matrix parameters taught in JP’081 where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide constitutes 20 mol% or more in anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to utilize a high proportion of compact, near-spherical bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide anions within the plastic crystal lattice to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of crystal orientation and phase rotation, with the reasonable expectation of lowering rotational friction barriers, expanding local lattice migration paths, and enhancing the high-speed hopping velocity of the ion-dissociative lithium carrier ions through the solid electrolyte phase (JP’025, Pg. 2-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3; JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-14).
As to Claim 17:
See the rejection of Claim 3, from which Claim 17 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 3, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and one type or two or more types of plastic crystals containing bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide; and JP’025 discloses that the polymer is an uncrosslinked polymer, wherein the uncrosslinked polymer includes one or more of polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyester, polyethylene carbonate, a derivative of polyethylene carbonate, polypropylene carbonate, polytrimethylene carbonate, or a copolymer of polytrimethylene carbonate and polycarbonate (JP’025, Pg. 2-7, 13).
As to Claim 18:
See the rejection of Claim 3, from which Claim 18 depends; JP’025 discloses a power storage device comprising the solid electrolyte according to claim 3, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and one type or two or more types of plastic crystals containing bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide; and JP’025 discloses that the power storage device comprises both electrodes disposed to face each other with the solid electrolyte sandwiched therebetween (JP’025, Pg. 1-7, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where the solid electrolyte contains a plastic crystal matrix where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide is contained at 20 mol% or more in anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal in combination with the precise relative carbonate polymer monomer unit and lithium salt molar percentages required by Claim 1 while sandwiched between opposing electrodes.
CN’757 discloses a power storage device comprising a lithium secondary battery where the positive electrode material and negative electrode material are stacked into a laminate with a composite solid electrolyte membrane interposed therebetween, and teaches that the components are mixed in wide-ranging mass boundaries, polymer to plastic crystal from 1:0.1 to 1:10 and polymer to lithium salt from 1:0.05 to 1:1, that inherently encompass and map to the relative high-concentration molar boundaries of Claim 1 (CN’757, Pg. 2-4, 6). Further, JP’081 explicitly discloses a lithium ion conductive solid electrolyte configuration for an electrochemical device comprising an organic ionic plastic crystal composed of a pyrrolidinium-type cation and a bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI/FSA) anion, wherein the bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion is present on a 1:1 molar basis relative to the crystal’s cations, thereby constituting 100 mol% of the anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal (JP’081, Pg. 2-6, 13-16).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to manufacture the power storage device of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757 to expand the relative proportions of the uncrosslinked carbonate polymer and the lithium salt with respect to the plastic crystal, and further incorporating the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide plastic crystal matrix parameters taught in JP’081 where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide constitutes 20 mol% or more in anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal inside the sandwiched solid electrolyte layer. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide-based electrolyte composition within the device to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of carrier ion density and lattice pathway spacing, with the reasonable expectation of increasing the number of active ion conductive sites, lowering rotational friction barriers, expanding local lattice migration paths, and enhancing high-speed carrier lithium-ion hopping velocity through the solid electrolyte phase for stable high-voltage battery operation (JP’025, Pg. 2-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-4; JP’081, Pg. 2-6, 13-14).
As to Claim 19:
See the rejection of Claim 8, from which Claim 19 depends; JP’025 discloses a method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte, comprising a step of mixing a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof within specified relative proportions; JP’025 discloses that the final solid electrolyte contains a plastic crystal matrix phase; and JP’025 discloses that regarding the plastic crystal component, one type of plastic crystal may be used alone, or two or more types of them may be combined (JP’025, Pg. 2-7, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where the mixing step is performed to result in a solid electrolyte containing two or more types of the plastic crystals in combination with the specific relative carbonate polymer monomer unit and lithium salt molar percentages required by Claim 8.
CN’757 discloses a manufacturing method of a solid electrolyte system blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries required by Claim 8. Furthermore, CN’757 explicitly teaches that as for the ionic plastic crystals, only one type may be used alone, or two or more types may be used in combination inside the mixing step. JP’081 also explicitly details the technical step of incorporating multiple varieties of plastic crystal components together to generate target structural variations in the conductive phase (CN’757, Pg. 2-3, 5-6; JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-16).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757, and further combining two or more types of plastic crystals during the mixing step as taught by CN’757 and JP’081. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to utilize a mixture of two or more different plastic crystal species during processing to intentionally disrupt the regular structural orientation of the resulting crystal lattice, with the reasonable expectation of generating internal structural defects that successfully lower bulk crystallinity, widen lattice paths, and maximize the overall room-temperature ionic conductivity of the manufactured solid electrolyte layer (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3; JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-14).
As to Claim 20:
See the rejection of Claim 8, from which Claim 20 depends; JP’025 discloses a method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte, comprising a step of mixing a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof within specified relative proportions; JP’025 discloses that the final solid electrolyte contains a plastic crystal parent phase that may include one type or two or more types of plastic crystals combined together; and JP’025 discloses that an anion constituting the plastic crystal parent phase can be selected from the group of disulfonylamides, which includes bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide (JP’025, Pg. 2-7, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where the mixing step is performed to result in a solid electrolyte containing one type, a plurality of types, or all types of plastic crystals that contain bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide such that the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide is contained at 20 mol% or more in anions of an entirety of the plastic crystal in combination with the specific relative monomer unit and lithium salt molar percentages required by Claim 8.
CN’757 discloses a manufacturing method of a solid electrolyte membrane system blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries required by Claim 8 (CN’757, Pg. 2-4, 6). Further, JP’081 explicitly discloses a lithium ion conductive solid electrolyte and its structural configuration comprising an organic ionic plastic crystal composed of a pyrrolidinium-type cation and a bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI/FSA) anion. JP’081 teaches a stoichiometric configuration where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion is present on a 1:1 molar basis relative to the crystal’s cations, thereby constituting 100 mol% of the anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal matrix added during the step (JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-16).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757, and further incorporating the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide plastic crystal matrix parameters taught in JP’081 where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide constitutes 20 mol% or more in anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal inside the mixing step. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to utilize a high proportion of compact, near-spherical bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide anions within the plastic crystal lattice to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of crystal orientation and phase rotation, with the reasonable expectation of lowering rotational friction barriers, expanding local lattice migration paths, and enhancing the high-speed carrier hopping velocity of lithium ions through the manufactured solid electrolyte phase (JP’025, Pg. 2-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-4; JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-14).
Claims 4, 10-11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2020-167025 A (JP’025) in view of CN 111370757 A (CN’757), as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of JP 2014-504788 A (JP’788).
As to Claim 4:
See the rejection of Claim 1, from which Claim 4 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 1, wherein the solid electrolyte comprises a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof; and JP’025 discloses that an organic solvent such as acetone or volatile solvents such as acetonitrile may be added to the vial to prepare an organic solvent solution in which the components are dissolved (JP’025, Pg. 1-2, 5-7).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose further comprising a glycol diether compound or a cyclic ether compound.
CN’757 discloses a solid electrolyte system blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries required by Claim 1 (CN’757, Pg. 2-3, 5-6). JP’788 explicitly discloses an organic plastic crystal electrolyte composition containing a lithium salt and a plastic crystal matrix phase. JP’788 further teaches that the organic plastic crystal electrolyte formulation can explicitly comprise an ether-based compound additive, specifically designating glycol diether compounds such as ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (monoglyme), diglyme, triglyme, and tetraglyme, or cyclic ether compounds such as tetrahydrofuran, to function as fluid carriers or chain-mobility enhancers (JP’788, Pg. 1, 3-5, 8-9).
JP’025, CN’757, and JP’788 are analogous arts because all three references operate in the same technical field of solid polymer electrolytes containing plastic crystals and lithium salts for lithium secondary batteries, and both references are directed to solving the identical technical problems of suppressing electrolyte matrix crystallinity, improving processing flexibility, and optimizing lithium-ion transport behavior within a plastic crystal carrier system (JP’025, Pg. 1-2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 1-3; JP’788, Pg. 1-5).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the solid electrolyte composition of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757, and further adding a glycol diether compound or a cyclic ether compound as taught in JP’788. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to introduce these specific ether compounds as plasticizing or fluid additives to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of polymer network flexibility and local ion coordination, with the reasonable expectation of increasing local polymer chain mobility, weakening electrostatic binding interactions between decoupled lithium ions and adjacent plastic crystal anions, and promoting smooth, high-velocity carrier hopping migration without degrading the overall thermal stability of the solid electrolyte layer (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3; JP’788, Pg. 3-5, 8-9).
As to Claim 10:
See the rejection of Claim 8, from which Claim 10 depends; JP’025 discloses the method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte according to claim 8, comprising a step of mixing a plastic crystal, a lithium salt, and a carbonate polymer or a derivative thereof within specified relative proportions; and JP’025 discloses that in the mixing step, a solvent is added to a vial to prepare an organic solvent solution in which the components are dissolved, wherein volatile solvents may be utilized (JP’025, Pg. 5-7).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose a specific embodiment where the mixing step is performed by adding the plastic crystal, the lithium salt, and the carbonate polymer or derivative thereof to a mixed solvent of anisole and butyl butyrate.
CN’757 discloses a manufacturing method of a solid electrolyte membrane blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries required by Claim 8. CN’757 teaches that the components are mixed and fully dissolved in a volatile organic solvent carrier phase, such as acetonitrile, to form a uniform slurry (CN’757, Pg. 2-4, 6). Further, JP’788 explicitly discloses an organic plastic crystal electrolyte preparation method involving dissolving a plastic crystal matrix and lithium salt. JP’788 teaches that the manufacturing process can utilize a solvent during mixing, and the solvent can be removed by a drying step (JP’788, Pg. 3-5).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the method of manufacturing a solid electrolyte of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757, and further adding the plastic crystal, the lithium salt, and the carbonate polymer or derivative thereof to a mixed solvent of anisole and butyl butyrate during the mixing step as taught by the mixed solvent techniques of JP’788. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to select a specific mixed organic solvent configuration combining components of varying polarities and boiling points—such as anisole and butyl butyrate—to routinely optimize the result-effective processing variables of solvent evaporation velocity and solution casting wetting behavior, with the reasonable expectation of attaining a completely homogeneous slurry that completely prevents phase separation between the uncrosslinked polymer and the crystal domains during drying (JP’025, Pg. 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-4; JP’788, Pg. 3-5).
As to Claim 11:
See the rejection of Claim 2, from which Claim 11 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 2, wherein the solid electrolyte comprises a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and two or more types of plastic crystals; and JP’025 discloses that an organic solvent such as acetone or volatile solvents such as acetonitrile may be added to the vial to prepare an organic solvent solution in which the components are dissolved (JP’025, Pg. 2-7, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose further comprising a glycol diether compound or a cyclic ether compound in combination with a solid electrolyte matrix containing two or more types of plastic crystals.
CN’757 discloses a solid electrolyte system blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix containing one or more types of plastic crystals, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries required by Claim 1 (CN’757, Pg. 2-3, 5-6). JP’788 explicitly discloses an organic plastic crystal electrolyte composition containing a lithium salt and a plastic crystal matrix phase. JP’788 further teaches that the organic plastic crystal electrolyte formulation can explicitly comprise an ether-based compound additive, specifically designating glycol diether compounds such as ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (monoglyme), diglyme, triglyme, and tetraglyme, or cyclic ether compounds such as tetrahydrofuran, to function as fluid carriers or chain-mobility enhancers (JP’788, Pg. 3-5, 8-9).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the solid electrolyte composition of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757 to apply to a matrix containing two or more types of plastic crystals, and further adding a glycol diether compound or a cyclic ether compound as taught in JP’788. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to introduce these specific ether compounds into the multi-crystal matrix as plasticizing or fluid additives to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of polymer network flexibility and local ion coordination, with the reasonable expectation of increasing local polymer chain mobility, weakening electrostatic binding interactions between decoupled lithium ions and adjacent plastic crystal anions, and promoting smooth, high-velocity carrier hopping migration without degrading the overall thermal stability of the multi-crystal solid electrolyte layer (JP’025, Pg. 2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3; JP’788, Pg. 3-5, 8-9).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2020-167025 A (JP’025) in view of CN 111370757 A (CN’757) and JP 2020-0680081 A (JP’081), as applied to Claim 3 above, and further in view of JP 2014-504788 A (JP’788).
As to Claim 15:
See the rejection of Claim 3, from which Claim 15 depends; JP’025 discloses the solid electrolyte according to claim 3, wherein the solid electrolyte contains a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and one type or two or more types of plastic crystals containing bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide; and JP’025 discloses that an organic solvent such as acetone or volatile solvents such as acetonitrile may be added to the vial to prepare an organic solvent solution in which the components are dissolved (JP’025, Pg. 2-7, 13).
However, JP’025 does not explicitly disclose further comprising a glycol diether compound or a cyclic ether compound in combination with a plastic crystal matrix where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide is contained at 20 mol% or more in anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal.
CN’757 discloses a solid electrolyte system blending wide-ranging weight ratios of a carbonate polymer, a lithium salt, and an organic ionic plastic crystal matrix, which inherently maps to the high-concentration relative molar boundaries required by Claim 1 (CN’757, Pg. 2-3, 5-6). JP’081 explicitly discloses a lithium-ion conductive solid electrolyte comprising an organic ionic plastic crystal composed of a pyrrolidinium-type cation and a bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI/FSA) anion, wherein the bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide anion is present on a 1:1 molar basis relative to the crystal’s cations, thereby constituting 100 mol% of the anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal (JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-16). JP’788 explicitly discloses an organic plastic crystal electrolyte composition containing a lithium salt and a plastic crystal matrix phase, and explicitly teaches that the formulation can comprise an ether-based compound additive, specifically designating glycol diether compounds such as ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (monoglyme), diglyme, triglyme, and tetraglyme, or cyclic ether compounds such as tetrahydrofuran, to function as fluid carriers or chain-mobility enhancers (JP’788, Pg. 3-5, 8-9).
JP’025, CN’757, JP’081, and JP’788 are analogous arts because all four references operate in the same technical field of solid polymer electrolytes containing organic plastic crystals and lithium salts for secondary batteries, and all four references are directed to solving the identical technical problems of suppressing electrolyte matrix crystallinity, improving processing flexibility, and optimizing lithium-ion transport behavior within a plastic crystal carrier system (JP’025, Pg. 1-2, 5-7; CN’757, Pg. 1-3; JP’081, Pg. 1-5, 13-14; JP’788, Pg. 1-5).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to modify the solid electrolyte composition of JP’025 by incorporating the wide-ranging weight blending parameters taught in CN’757, further incorporating the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide plastic crystal matrix parameters taught in JP’081 where the bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide constitutes 20 mol% or more in anions of the entirety of the plastic crystal, and further adding a glycol diether compound or a cyclic ether compound as taught in JP’788. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to introduce these specific ether compounds into the FSA-based plastic crystal matrix as plasticizing or fluid additives to routinely optimize the result-effective variables of polymer network flexibility and local ion coordination, with the reasonable expectation of increasing local polymer chain mobility, lowering the rotational friction barriers of the compact bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide crystal lattice, and promoting smooth, high-velocity carrier lithium-ion hopping migration through the solid electrolyte phase (JP’025, Pg. 2-7; CN’757, Pg. 2-3; JP’081, Pg. 2-4, 13-14; JP’788, Pg. 3-5, 8-9).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
EP 0658269 B1 discloses solid polymer electrolyte having high ionic conductivity using a polymer having an oxyalkyl side chain that contains urethane bonding.
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/JIMMY VO/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1723
/JIMMY VO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1723
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