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 § 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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biver et al (WO2015040029A2) in view of Bhowmik et al (NPL: "Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline..."), Baena et al (NPL: "The effect of polyether terminal chains..."), and Niu et al (NPL: "Low-Melting-Point Ionic Liquid Electrolyte...").
Regarding claim 1, Biver teaches a viologen compound which can be of either formula:
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. Formula II does not fit the salt as claimed since A and B must contain nitrogen. Formula I, when n and p of Biver = 0, does encapulsate the viologen salt of formula I as R1 and R2 are each substituted phenyl groups, thus capable of containing Ra, Rb, R1m, and R2p as claimed. Biver defines “X” as a counterion for each formula. Disclosed compound I-1 of Biver possesses the framework of the viologen salt as claimed:
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whereby the leftmost and rightmost aryl groups can be further substituted as taught in the generic formula I of Biver. In pg 35, Biver teaches uses of such viologens in electrochromic devices, electrochromic cells, etc. In pg 3, Biver teaches the compound is an electrochromic oxidizing compound and thus has electrolytic capabilities and is an ionic liquid electrolyte or used in such a composition. The R3 and R4 of formula I are substituents on a phenyl group and could thus be obvious manipulations of the rightmost and leftmost phenyl groups in compound I-1. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to modify the leftmost and/or rightmost phenyl groups of compound I-1 with the overlapping disclosed list of potential substituents of Biver as known alkyl or alkoxy groups capable of preparing a viologen compound for electrochromic implementations and arrive at the limitation as claimed. Biver does not disclose oligoethyleneoxy-type groups nor the counterions as specified as within the claimed R1 and R2 and X1 and X2 of the instant application but does open the possibility of alkoxy-type substitutions and broadly disclosed “X” as counterions. Bhowmik teaches and characterizes bis(4-alkoxyphenyl) viologen bis(triflimide) salts with alkoxy chains of different lengths as opposed to oligoethyleneoxy-types. Bhowmik teaches salts with short length alkoxy chains have crystal-to-liquid transitions and those with longer length chains have relatively low melting temperatures but all have excellent thermal stabilities. In Fig. 1, Bhowmik discloses suitable viologen embodiments whereby IV and V show alkoxy-substitutions along with triflimide salt counterions (N(SO2CF3)2 which matches X1 and X2 as claimed) whereby m and p are each 1 as claimed, n when accounting for amount of carbons overlaps with n=3-10 as claimed (although not ethoxy type) and Ra0 and Rb0 as claimed:
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. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to include bis(triflimide) as a known counterion for viologen salts and to substitute phenyl groups with alkoxy-type substituents having overlapping numbers of carbons, as alkoxy chain length can impact parameters such as crystallinity and melting temperature, as known suitable embodiments for viologen salts and arrive at the limitation as claimed. As described, Bhowmik does not teach a substitution that matches R1 and R2 as claimed but directs towards similar compounds and suitable substitution locations, “amounts”, and lengths of carbon chains. Baena also teaches substitutions of phenyl type groups, although for ortho-palladated complexes as opposed to bipyridiniums. However, Baena teaches such polyether substitutions in such settings are helpful for lowering melting point, increasing thermal stability, and improving miscibility which are all important parameters in ionic liquid electrolytes, particularly for electrochromic and battery-type applications which is relevant/analogous to the embodiments and Biver and Bhowmik. Thus, one would be motivated by Baena to modify such embodiments. As disclosed in Scheme 1 of Baena, Baena encourages addition of a polyether compound that fits the formula –(OCH2CH2)3OCH2CH3 which overlaps with R1 and R2 as claimed whereby n=3:
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. Baena teaches the specific case whereby n=3, but Bhowmik teaches that modifying the chain length impacts factors such as melting temperature. Thus, the Baena chain length could be modified beyond 3 to further optimize melting temperature of the compound. Niu teaches why low melting temperatures are desirable in ionic liquid electrolytes for batteries whereby a low melting temperature enables lowering the operating temperature to alleviate issues such as battery performance degradation that rapidly occurs at higher operating temperatures. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to modify the embodiments of Biver and Bhowmik to replace the alkoxy substitution with a polyether substitution, as informed by Baena, to lower the melting temperature of the viologen salt in order to lower the operating temperature of implementation into a battery, thus lowering the performance degradation, as informed by Niu, and arrive at the invention as claimed. Therefore, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “
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”.
Regarding claim 2, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. Further, through arrival to the embodiment as described above, Bhowmik teaches an embodiment whereby m is 1. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “The ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein m is 1”.
Regarding claim 3, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. Further, through arrival to the embodiment as described above, Bhowmik teaches an embodiment whereby p is 1. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “The ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein p is 1”.
Regarding claim 4, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. Although the embodiment of Bhowmik accounts for m as 1, Biver teaches the phenyl group can be optionally substituted at any location, thus m can be varied and could be 2. Bhowmik and Baena teach how their substitutions can impact melting temperature through carbon chain length, but additional substitutions of the polyether of Baena would be predicted to further impact such parameters as well. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to add a further polyether group of Baena such that the melting temperature is further lowered and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “The ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein m is 2”.
Regarding claim 5, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. Although the embodiment of Bhowmik accounts for p as 1, Biver teaches the phenyl group can be optionally substituted at any location, thus p can be varied and could be 2. Bhowmik and Baena teach how their substitutions can impact melting temperature through carbon chain length, but additional substitutions of the polyether of Baena would be predicted to further impact such parameters as well. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to add a further polyether group of Baena such that the melting temperature is further lowered and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “The ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein p is 2”.
Regarding claim 6, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. The embodiment of Bhowmik displays a symmetric viologen salt and would thus be an obvious structure to maintain as a known suitable implementation/modification of viologen salts for ionic liquid electrolyte implementations. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “The ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein the viologen salt of formula (I) is a symmetric viologen salt”.
Regarding claim 7, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. Further, Bhowmik teaches use of bis(triflimide) as the counterion in such viologen salt compositions and would thus be an obvious feature to maintain as a known suitable implementation/modification of viologen salts for ionic liquid electrolyte implementations. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “
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”.
Regarding claim 8, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. Through mimicking the structure of Bhowmik and Biver by replacing the alkoxy substitution of Bhowmik for a polyether of Baena, the corresponding viologen salt would match the viologen salt I-a as claimed wherein n=3. The length of the polyether chain could be further modified to impact melting temperature, as informed by Bhowmik and Baena. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to add a polyether substituent to the leftmost and rightmost phenyl groups of Biver and Bhowmik (replacing the alkoxy group of Bhowmik), as informed by Baena and Niu, in order to lower the melting temperature of the viologen and thus lower operating temperature if implemented into a battery and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “
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”.
Regarding claim 9, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. As described in the rejection of claim 8 above, replacing the alkoxy groups at the known substituent spot of Bhowmik for polyethers of Baena enables arrival whereby the I-a formula is created. Biver teaches the phenyl group can be substituted at any location along the ring. Baena teaches that such substituents of polyethers enables a lowering of melting temperature, thus an additional substituent would further decrease the melting temperature. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to further add a polyether substituent such as to an adjacent location to the original substituent to further decrease the melting temperature of the viologen salt and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “
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.
Regarding claim 10, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. The viologen salts as recited in claim 10 match the formulas in claims 8 and 9 but with bis(triflimide) as the specific counterion. As described in the rejections of claims 8 and 9, the teachings of Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu enable on of ordinary skill in the art to arrive to such formulas. Through mimicking the structure of Bhowmik and Biver by replacing the alkoxy substitution of Bhowmik for a polyether of Baena, the corresponding viologen salt would match the viologen salt I-a as claimed wherein n=3. The length of the polyether chain could be further modified to impact melting temperature, as informed by Bhowmik and Baena. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to add a polyether substituent to the leftmost and rightmost phenyl groups of Biver and Bhowmik (replacing the alkoxy group of Bhowmik), as informed by Baena and Niu, in order to lower the melting temperature of the viologen and thus lower operating temperature if implemented into a battery and arrive at the invention as claimed. Biver teaches the phenyl group can be substituted at any location along the ring. Baena teaches that such substituents of polyethers enables a lowering of melting temperature, thus an additional substituent would further decrease the melting temperature. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to further add a polyether substituent such as to an adjacent location to the original substituent to further decrease the melting temperature of the viologen salt and arrive at the invention as claimed. Furthermore, Bhowmik teaches use of bis(triflimide) as a known counterion for viologen salts. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to include bis(triflimide) as the counterion as a known counterion suitable for use in combination with viologen salts in the joint embodiments informed by Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “
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”.
Regarding claim 11, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. Bhowmik teaches such compositions (thermotropic ionic liquid crystals) are suitable for technological applications including solar cells and batteries. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to implement the ionic liquid electrolyte into a known technological application such as solar cells and/or batteries and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “A solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell comprising the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1”.
Regarding claim 12, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. None of Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, nor Niu disclose a conductivity value of their salt/electrolyte. However, conductivity is an inherent property of such compositions and would be an obvious parameter to account for considering use in batteries as an ionic liquid electrolyte. While the reference does not disclose the claimed properties, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the exemplified magnetorheological fluids to inherently have the claimed properties absent any showing to the contrary since they fall within the claimed composition and are produced by the claimed process. See MPEP2112.01II. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the claimed “The ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein the viologen salt of formula (1) has a conductivity of greater than 0.1 S-cm-1”.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biver et al (WO2015040029A2) in view of Bhowmik et al (NPL: "Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline..."), Baena et al (NPL: "The effect of polyether terminal chains..."), and Niu et al (NPL: "Low-Melting-Point Ionic Liquid Electrolyte...") as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu et al (US PGPub 20180072669).
Regarding claim 12, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu teach the ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1. None of Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, nor Niu disclose a conductivity value of their salt/electrolyte. Liu similarly teaches application of bipyridinium viologen salts for use in redox flow batteries which can be substituted at the N atom in the bipyridiniums. The conductivities of embodiments of Liu reach a conductivity of at least 80 ms/cm (or 0.08 S*cm-1). By increasing molarity, the minimum conductivity can be increased to over 100 ms/cm (or 0.1S*cm-1) as shown in Figs. 6-7. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to increase the molarity of the viologen salt in order to ensure a minimum conductivity of at least 100 ms/cm, as informed by Liu, as a known conductivity suitable for use in applications of ionic liquid electrolytes/viologen salts such as batteries and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “The ionic liquid electrolyte of claim 1, wherein the viologen salt of formula (1) has a conductivity of greater than 0.1 S*cm-1”.
Claims 13, 17, and 21-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biver et al (WO2015040029A2) in view of Bhowmik et al (NPL: "Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline..."), Baena et al (NPL: "The effect of polyether terminal chains..."), Niu et al (NPL: "Low-Melting-Point Ionic Liquid Electrolyte..."), and Liu et al (US PGPub 20180072669).
Regarding claim 13, claim 13 implicitly contains the limitations of claim 1 pertaining to the “viologen salt of formula (I)”. The teachings of Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, and Niu enable arrival to that viologen salt as described in the rejection of claim 1. Biver teaches a viologen compound which can be of either formula:
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. Formula II does not fit the salt as claimed since A and B must contain nitrogen. Formula I, when n and p of Biver = 0, does encapulsate the viologen salt of formula I as R1 and R2 are each substituted phenyl groups, thus capable of containing Ra, Rb, R1m, and R2p as claimed. Biver defines “X” as a counterion for each formula. Disclosed compound I-1 of Biver possesses the framework of the viologen salt as claimed:
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whereby the leftmost and rightmost aryl groups can be further substituted as taught in the generic formula I of Biver. In pg 35, Biver teaches uses of such viologens in electrochromic devices, electrochromic cells, etc. In pg 3, Biver teaches the compound is an electrochromic oxidizing compound and thus has electrolytic capabilities and is an ionic liquid electrolyte or used in such a composition. The R3 and R4 of formula I are substituents on a phenyl group and could thus be obvious manipulations of the rightmost and leftmost phenyl groups in compound I-1. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to modify the leftmost and/or rightmost phenyl groups of compound I-1 with the overlapping disclosed list of potential substituents of Biver as known alkyl or alkoxy groups capable of preparing a viologen compound for electrochromic implementations and arrive at the limitation as claimed. Biver does not disclose oligoethyleneoxy-type groups nor the counterions as specified as within the claimed R1 and R2 and X1 and X2 of the instant application but does open the possibility of alkoxy-type substitutions and broadly disclosed “X” as counterions. Bhowmik teaches and characterizes bis(4-alkoxyphenyl) viologen bis(triflimide) salts with alkoxy chains of different lengths as opposed to oligoethyleneoxy-types. Bhowmik teaches salts with short length alkoxy chains have crystal-to-liquid transitions and those with longer length chains have relatively low melting temperatures but all have excellent thermal stabilities. In Fig. 1, Bhowmik discloses suitable viologen embodiments whereby IV and V show alkoxy-substitutions along with triflimide salt counterions (N(SO2CF3)2 which matches X1 and X2 as claimed) whereby m and p are each 1 as claimed, n when accounting for amount of carbons overlaps with n=3-10 as claimed (although not ethoxy type) and Ra0 and Rb0 as claimed:
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. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to include bis(triflimide) as a known counterion for viologen salts and to substitute phenyl groups with alkoxy-type substituents having overlapping numbers of carbons, as alkoxy chain length can impact parameters such as crystallinity and melting temperature, as known suitable embodiments for viologen salts and arrive at the limitation as claimed. As described, Bhowmik does not teach a substitution that matches R1 and R2 as claimed but directs towards similar compounds and suitable substitution locations, “amounts”, and lengths of carbon chains. Baena also teaches substitutions of phenyl type groups, although for ortho-palladated complexes as opposed to bipyridiniums. However, Baena teaches such polyether substitutions in such settings are helpful for lowering melting point, increasing thermal stability, and improving miscibility which are all important parameters in ionic liquid electrolytes, particularly for electrochromic and battery-type applications which is relevant/analogous to the embodiments and Biver and Bhowmik. Thus, one would be motivated by Baena to modify such embodiments. As disclosed in Scheme 1 of Baena, Baena encourages addition of a polyether compound that fits the formula –(OCH2CH2)3OCH2CH3 which overlaps with R1 and R2 as claimed whereby n=3:
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. Baena teaches the specific case whereby n=3, but Bhowmik teaches that modifying the chain length impacts factors such as melting temperature. Thus, the Baena chain length could be modified beyond 3 to further optimize melting temperature of the compound. Niu teaches why low melting temperatures are desirable in ionic liquid electrolytes for batteries whereby a low melting temperature enables lowering the operating temperature to alleviate issues such as battery performance degradation that rapidly occurs at higher operating temperatures. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to modify the embodiments of Biver and Bhowmik to replace the alkoxy substitution with a polyether substitution, as informed by Baena, to lower the melting temperature of the viologen salt in order to lower the operating temperature of implementation into a battery, thus lowering the performance degradation, as informed by Niu, and arrive at the invention as claimed. Bhowmik teaches that such viologen salts can be used in batteries and solar cells but does not disclose such a structure of those devices. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to implement the embodiment of the viologen salt into a known device suitable for such viologens such as batteries and/or solar cells and arrive at the invention as claimed. Liu similarly teaches application of bipyridinium viologen salts for use in redox flow batteries which can be substituted at the N atom in the bipyridiniums. In paragraph [0104] and Figs. 1, 32, and 53, Liu teaches the structure of batteries that implement the electrolyte which includes an aqueous electrolyte solution, a separator, a first electrode, and a second electrode. The first and second electrodes are a cathode and an anode as shown in the figures referenced. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to implement the ionic liquid electrolyte into a battery as described by Liu as a known suitable structure for batteries and implementation of such electrolytes and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “
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“.
Regarding claim 17, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13. Through arrival to the embodiment as described above, Bhowmik teaches an embodiment whereby m and p are both 1 and thus would be obvious to maintain as a known suitable embodiment. Although the embodiment of Bhowmik accounts for m and p as 1, Biver teaches the phenyl group can be optionally substituted at any location, thus m and p can be varied and could be 2. Bhowmik and Baena teach how their substitutions can impact melting temperature through carbon chain length, but additional substitutions of the polyether of Baena would be predicted to further impact such parameters as well. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to add a further polyether group of Baena or maintain the single substituent group such that the melting temperature is lowered or modified to a desired level and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “The solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13, wherein m is 1 or 2; and p is 1 or 2”.
Regarding claim 21, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13. The embodiment of Bhowmik displays a symmetric viologen salt and would thus be an obvious structure to maintain as a known suitable implementation/modification of viologen salts for ionic liquid electrolyte implementations. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “The solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13, wherein the viologen salt is a symmetric viologen salt”.
Regarding claim 22, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13. Further, Bhowmik teaches use of bis(triflimide) as the counterion in such viologen salt compositions and would thus be an obvious feature to maintain as a known suitable implementation/modification of viologen salts for ionic liquid electrolyte implementations. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “
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”.
Regarding claim 23, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13. Through mimicking the structure of Bhowmik and Biver by replacing the alkoxy substitution of Bhowmik for a polyether of Baena, the corresponding viologen salt would match the viologen salt I-a as claimed wherein n=3. The length of the polyether chain could be further modified to impact melting temperature, as informed by Bhowmik and Baena. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to add a polyether substituent to the leftmost and rightmost phenyl groups of Biver and Bhowmik (replacing the alkoxy group of Bhowmik), as informed by Baena and Niu, in order to lower the melting temperature of the viologen and thus lower operating temperature if implemented into a battery and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “
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Regarding claim 24, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13. As described in the rejection of claim 23 above, replacing the alkoxy groups at the known substituent spot of Bhowmik for polyethers of Baena enables arrival whereby the I-a formula is created. Biver teaches the phenyl group can be substituted at any location along the ring. Baena teaches that such substituents of polyethers enables a lowering of melting temperature, thus an additional substituent would further decrease the melting temperature. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to further add a polyether substituent such as to an adjacent location to the original substituent to further decrease the melting temperature of the viologen salt and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “
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Regarding claim 25, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13. None of Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, nor Niu disclose a conductivity value of their salt/electrolyte. Liu similarly teaches application of bipyridinium viologen salts for use in redox flow batteries which can be substituted at the N atom in the bipyridiniums. The conductivities of embodiments of Liu reach a conductivity of at least 80 ms/cm (or 0.08 S*cm-1). By increasing molarity, the minimum conductivity can be increased to over 100 ms/cm (or 0.1S*cm-1) as shown in Figs. 6-7. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date, to increase the molarity of the viologen salt in order to ensure a minimum conductivity of at least 100 ms/cm, as informed by Liu, as a known conductivity suitable for use in applications of ionic liquid electrolytes/viologen salts such as batteries and arrive at the invention as claimed. Thus, Biver, Bhowmik, Baena, Niu, and Liu teach the claimed “The solid-state battery, supercapacitor, solar cell, or perovskite photovoltaic cell of claim 13, wherein the viologen salt of formula (I) has a conductivity of greater than 0.1 S-cm-1”
Conclusion
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/NWFG/Examiner, Art Unit 1759
/MELVIN C. MAYES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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