Appeal 2007-1375
Application 10/327,300
OPINION
We determine the following factual findings from the record in this
appeal:
(1) Ye discloses a platinum-aerogel nanocomposite in which the
platinum nanoparticles are uniformly incorporated as part of the
molecular architecture of the composite, prepared by mixing a
platinum salt or an organometallic compound with
polyacrylonitrile to form a polymer gel, reducing the salt,
exchanging the remaining solvent with acetone or ethanol,
removing the latter solvent with carbon dioxide supercritical
extraction, followed by pyrolysis (Ye 1667, Abstract and left
column);
(2) Ye discloses that in a typical experiment 5 wt.% of platinum is
used to prepare the aerogel composite (Ye 1667, right column),
and the surface mean particle size of the platinum particles can be
“estimated” to be 2.7 nanometers (nm) (Ye 1669, left column; see
Figure 3; Answer 5);
(3) Maldonado discloses the preparation of transition-metal-
containing aerogels and their carbonized derivatives, where the
transition metal may be platinum, and the aerogels are RF
aerogels, i.e., made by polycondensation of resorcinol with
formaldehyde in aqueous solution to form gels that can be
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