# US 11,441,226 B2 · Method for anti-corrosion pre-treatment of a metal surface containing steel, galvanised steel, aluminium, magnesium and/or a zinc-magnesium alloy

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- Number: US 11,441,226 B2
- Document ID: US11441226B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/312,908
- Filed: 2017-06-21
- Published: 2019-10-31
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2016-06-22
- Assignees: Chemetall GmbH
- Applicants: Chemetall GmbH
- Inventors: Stefan Birkenheuer; Carina Hecker; Oliver Sauer; Daniel Schatz
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11441226B2

## CPC

- C23C 22/78: Pretreatment of the material to be coated
- C23C 22/34: containing fluorides or complex fluorides
- C23C 22/83: Chemical after-treatment
- C23C 2222/20: Use of solutions containing silanes
- C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04)

## Abstract

Described herein is an improved process for an anticorrosion pretreatment of a metallic surface including steel, galvanized steel, aluminum, magnesium and/or a zinc-magnesium alloy, wherein the metallic surface is brought into contact with an aqueous composition A including a) from 0.01 to 0.5 g/l of a copolymer and the metallic surface is brought into contact with an acidic aqueous composition B including b1) a compound selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium and hafnium compounds, wherein the metallic surface is brought into contact i) firstly with the composition A and then with the composition B, ii) firstly with the composition B and then with the composition A and/or iii) simultaneously with the composition A and the composition B. Also described herein is a corresponding aqueous composition A, an aqueous concentrate for producing this composition, a correspondingly coated metallic surface and a method of using a correspondingly coated metallic substrate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A process for an anticorrosion pretreatment of a metallic surface comprising steel, galvanized steel, aluminum, magnesium and/or a zinc-magnesium alloy, wherein the metallic surface is brought into contact with an aqueous composition A comprising
a) from 0.01 to 0.5 g/l (calculated as solid addition) of at least one copolymer comprising, in an alternating configuration, i) monomer units comprising at least one carboxylic acid group, phosphonic acid group and/or sulfonic acid group and ii) monomer units not comprising any acid group,
and the metallic surface is brought into contact with an acidic aqueous composition B comprising
b1) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium and hafnium compounds,
wherein the metallic surface is brought into contact
i) firstly with the composition A and then with the composition B, or
ii) firstly with the composition B and then with the composition A.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein the monomer units i) comprising at least one carboxylic acid group, phosphonic acid group and/or sulfonic acid group and the monomer units ii) not comprising any acid group in the at least one copolymer a) in the composition A are alkylenes, styrene, vinyl alcohol, vinyl acetate, vinyl ethers, ethylenimine, (meth)acrylic esters and/or (meth)acrylamide.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The process according to claim 2, wherein the monomer units i) have two carboxylic acid groups and the monomer units ii) are vinyl ethers in a) in the composition A.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein the at least one copolymer a) in the composition A has a degree of polymerization based on two monomer units in an alternating configuration in the range from 25 to 5700 and/or its number average molecular weight is in the range from 5000 to 1 000 000 g/mol.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein the metallic surface is brought into contact i) firstly with the composition A and then with the composition B, wherein a concentration of the at least one copolymer a) in the composition A is in the range from 0.01 to 0.5 g/l (calculated as solid addition).

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein a pH of the composition B is in the range from 2 to 5.5.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein the composition B additionally comprises b2) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of organoalkoxysilanes, organosilanols, polyorganosilanols, organosiloxanes and polyorganosiloxanes.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The process according to claim 7, wherein, in the composition B, a concentration of b2) is in the range from 1 to 200 mg/l (calculated as silicon) and that of b1) is in the range from 0.05 to 4 g/l (calculated as hexafluorozirconic acid).

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The process according to claim 7, wherein b2) in the composition B is at least one organoalkoxysilane, organosilanol, polyorganosilanol, organosiloxane and/or polyorganosiloxane having in each case at least one amino group, urea group, imido group, imino group and/or ureido group per organoalkoxysilane/organosilanol unit.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein b1) in the composition B is at least one complex fluoride selected from the group consisting of a complex fluoride of titanium, zirconium and hafnium.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein a content of free fluoride in the composition B is in the range from 0.015 to 0.15 g/l.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein the composition B additionally comprises b3) at least one type of cation selected from the group consisting of cations of metals of transition groups 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 including the lanthanides, cations of metals of main group 2 of the Periodic Table of the Elements, cations of lithium, bismuth, tin, and/or at least one corresponding compound.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The process according to claim 12, wherein the composition B additionally comprises b3) at least one type of cation selected from the group consisting of the cations of cerium and further lanthanides, chromium, iron, calcium, cobalt, copper, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, tantalum, yttrium, vanadium, lithium, bismuth, zinc and tin and/or at least one corresponding compound.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The process according to claim 13, wherein the composition B comprises a zinc cation, copper cation, and/or cerium cation, and/or at least one molybdenum compound as b3).

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The process according to claim 14, wherein the composition B comprises from 0.1 to 5 g/l of zinc cations, from 5 to 50 mg/l of copper cations and/or from 5 to 50 mg/l of cerium cations and/or from 10 to 100 mg/l of at least one molybdenum compound (calculated as molybdenum) as b3).

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The process according to claim 1, wherein the metallic surface comprises steel and/or galvanized steel.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

A method of using a metallic substrate which has been coated by a process according to claim 1 in the automobile industry, for rail vehicles, in the aerospace industry, in apparatus construction, in mechanical engineering, in the building industry, in the furniture industry, for the production of crash barriers, lamps, profiles, cladding or small parts, for the production of bodywork or bodywork parts, of individual components, preinstalled or joined elements.
