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 § 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.
Claim(s) carbon-coated nano-titanium niobate electrode material is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zheng (CN Publication 110571423).
Regarding claim 1, Zheng discloses a process of preparing nitrogen-containing carbon-coated nano-titanium niobate electrode material comprising: ball-milling niobium pentoxide, immersing the niobium pentoxide in an oxidant solution to form a layer of oxidant on the niobium pentoxide, placing the oxidant coated niobium pentoxide in pyrrole vapor to allow pyrrole monomers to polymerize on the surface of the niobium pentoxide particles, forming a uniform and complete polypyrrole film, and calcining the polymerized particles at a predetermined temperature to form the carbon-coated nano-titanium niobate electrode material (Paragraphs 0057-0062).
As to claim 2, Zheng teaches that the ball milling can be high-energy ball milling (Paragraph 0101).
Regarding claim 5, Zheng states that the niobium pentoxide particles are ultrasonically dispersed in the oxidant solution (Paragraph 0059).
As to claims 6 and 7, Zheng discloses that the oxidant can be ferric p-toluenesulfonate dissolved in n-butanol (Paragraph 0059).
Regarding claims 10 and 11, Zheng teaches that the oxidant coated niobium pentoxide is placed in pyrrole vapor to allow pyrrole monomers to polymerize on the surface of the niobium pentoxide particles, forming a uniform and complete polypyrrole film (Paragraph 0060).
As to claims 12 and 15, Zheng states that the formed electrode material is carbon-coated nano-titanium niobate electrode material Ti2Nb10O29 (Paragraph 0057).
Regarding claim 13, Zheng discloses that the method creates agglomerated particles with a particle diameter of 200 nm (Paragraph 0076).
As to claim 14, Zheng teaches that the calcining step is performed at a temperature of 800 °C (Paragraph 0062).
Regarding claims 16 and 17, Zheng states that the polymerized particles can be washed and ground evenly with metatitanic acid (Paragraph 0061).
As to claims 18 and 19, Zheng discloses that the formed electrode material is mixed with a binder and conductive additive and coated onto a copper foil to form an electrode (Paragraph 0068).
Regarding claim 20, Zheng teaches that a coin cell is formed using the electrode described above (cathode), a lithium metal sheet as a counter electrode (anode), a separator, and an electrolyte (Paragraph 0068).
Zheng teaches every limitation of claims 1, 2, 5-7 and 10-20 of the present invention and thus anticipates the claims.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN Publication 110571423) in view of Liu (CN Publication 113387343).
The teachings of Zheng have been discussed in paragraph 3 above.
Zheng fails to disclose that the ball-milling comprises placing the niobium pentoxide and deionized water into a milling vessel, placing a plurality of grinding balls in the vessel, and rotating the vessel at 500 rpm for 4 hours.
Liu discloses a method for preparing silicon-carbon anode comprising performing high-energy ball milling on a silicon wafer, which comprises placing silicon wafer fragments with milling balls and deionized water, and rotating at a speed of 300-1600 rpm for 1-20h (Paragraphs 0011-0012).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that the high-energy ball milling of Zheng can be performed in the manner described in Liu because Liu teaches that deionized water is a common milling medium and that rotation speed and time can be adjusted to form a desired particle size.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN Publication 110571423) in view of Groombridge (WO Publication 2021-074592).
The teachings of Zheng have been discussed in paragraph 3 above.
Zheng fails to disclose that the size of the ball-milled niobium pentoxide is 30 nm.
Groombridge discloses a process of forming a carbon and niobium oxide electrode material wherein the precursor materials can have a particle diameter of 10 nm to 20 µm, and wherein the mixed niobium oxide particles can have a particle diameter of 10 nm to 100 µm (Page 3, Line 35-Page 4, Line 5; Page 16, Lines 12-18; Page 18, Lines 22-27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that the niobium pentoxide particles of Zheng could have a particle size of 30 nm prior to the oxidant step because Groombridge teaches that precursor particles of niobium oxide prior to mixing and other process steps have small diameters as low as 10 nm, and that these form secondary particles having diameters in the range of 200 nm, as in Zheng.
Claim(s) 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (CN Publication 110571423).
The teachings of Zheng have been discussed in paragraph 3 above.
Zheng fails to state that after the polymerization step, the particles are centrifuged with an organic solvent, such as ethanol.
Regarding claims 8 and 9, Zheng discloses that after the niobium pentoxide particles are coated with the oxidant, the particles are centrifuged (Paragraph 0043) and that the particles are washed with ethanol after the polymerizing step (Paragraph 0061).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the present invention that the particles of Zheng could also be centrifuged after the polymerization step because Zheng teaches that this allows for unwanted particles or additives to be separated from the niobium pentoxide particles.
Conclusion
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BRITTANY L. RAYMOND
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1722
/BRITTANY L RAYMOND/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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