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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 are allowable over the prior art of record.
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.
1. Claims 1, 2, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oh et al. (US20140328005) in view of Liu et al. (US20150014582).
2. Regarding claims 1, 2 and 13, Oh teaches composite material (The preparation method for LTO/carbon composite 100 [0032]), characterized in that it contains a matrix formed by carbon aerogel and Li4Ti5O12 spinel nanocrystallites dispersed in this matrix (mixing intermediate LTO granules with a carbon aerogel to form a carbon aerogel mixture [0014]; lithium titanium oxide (LTO) having a spinel structure [0005]; A plurality of the primary LTO granules 112 are made of Li4Ti5O12 [0028]), with a carbon content in the composite of 7-74% by weight (5 to 30 wt. % of the carbon-based additive 120 [0027]) and a content of Li4Ti5O12 spinel nanocrystallites in the composite of 25-93% by weight (70 to 95 wt. % of the LTO granules, see claim 3), with a specific surface area of the composite of 44-426 m2/g (a specific surface area of 10 to 300 m2/g [0028], and an average pore size of the composite of 2-3 nm (As the carbon-based additive 120, activated carbon is a carbon material that has micropores 2 to 50 nm in diameter [0044]).
3. They are silent a pore volume of the composite of 0.03-0.21 cm3/g.
4. Liu teaches the anode material comprising C—Li4Ti5O12 (abstract) having a surface area and total pore volume of LTO-500 nanosheets are 206 m2 g−1 and 0.166 cm3 g−1 respectively [0052] for the benefit of obtaining high-power density in batteries [0002].
5. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Oh with Liu’s teachings for the benefit of obtaining high-power density in batteries.
6. Regarding claim 2, Oh teaches wherein the Li4Ti5O12 nanocrystallites have a size in the range of 40-70 nm (A plurality of the primary LTO granules 112 are made of Li4Ti5O12 [0028]; A plurality of the primary LTO granules 112 a are made of Li2Ti3 and have a particle diameter (D50:M2) of 30 to 100 nm [0029]).
7. Regarding claim 13, Oh teaches wherein: providing the composite material and forming the composite material into an electrode (negative electrode material using the LTO/carbon composite 100 [0053]) or incorporating the composite material into a lithium-ion cell (This can be applied to the lithium secondary battery [0053]).
Conclusion
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/OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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