USE OF COATING COMPOSITIONS FOR MAKING A SUBSTRATE FROST RESISTANT, COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS USEFUL THEREFOR

1 . A method of making frost resistant a substrate, the method comprising:

coating a substrate with a coating composition [composition (C)] comprising:

at least one copolymer [copolymer (ZW-CA)] comprising

(a) repeating units [units (R ZW )] derived from at least one zwitterionic monomer [monomer (A)], and

(b) repeating units [units (R CA )] derived from at least one carboxylic acid and/or carboxylic anhydride containing monomer [monomer (B)], and

at least one crosslinking agent [crosslinking agent (CL)].

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the monomer (A) is selected from the groups consisting of

a) alkyl or hydroxyalkyl sulfonates or phosphonates of dialkylammonium alkyl acrylates or methacrylates, acrylamido or methacrylamido;

b) heterocyclic betaine monomers;

c) alkyl or hydroxyalkyl sulfonates or phosphonates of dialkylammonium alkyl allylics;

d) alkyl or hydroxyalkyl sulfonates or phosphonates of dialkylammonium alkyl styrenes;

e) betaines resulting from ethylenically unsaturated anhydrides and dienes;

f) phosphobetaines of formulae

g) betaines resulting from cyclic acetals; and combinations thereof.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein monomer (B) is selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid, maleic acid anhydride, itaconic acid, crotonic acid, fumaric acid, 4-methacryloxyethyltrimellitic acid, 4-methacryloxyethyltrimellitic acid anhydride, methacryloyl-L-Lysine, and combinations thereof.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein copolymer (ZW-CA) further comprises repeating units [units (R N )], different from units (R ZW ) and (R CA ), derived from at least one monomer [monomer (D)] different from monomers A and B.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein monomer (D) is selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, n-butyl methacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate, 2-ethyl hexyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate, 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate, vinyl acetate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), hydroxypropyl methacrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), hydroxypropyl acrylate, 4-hydroxybutyl acrylate, poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA), poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (mPEGMA), poly(ethylene glycol) ethyl ether methacrylate, poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate, poly(ethylene glycol) ethyl ether acrylate, and combinations thereof.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the crosslinking agent (CL) is selected from the group consisting of polyols, polyamines, polyepoxides, polyisocyanates, blocked polyisocyanates, polycarbodiimides, and mixtures thereof.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein composition (C) comprises water in an amount ranging from 5 wt. % to 90 wt. % of the total weight of said composition (C).

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a metal or metal-containing substrate.

9 . A method for making frost resistant a substrate, the method comprising processing the composition (C) according to claim 1 onto the substrate thereby providing a top coating layer (TL) effective to make said substrate frost resistant.

10 . An article comprising a metal or metal-containing surface, wherein the metal or metal-containing surface is coated with the coating composition (C) according to claim 1 , thereby providing a top coating layer (TL) effective to make said metal or metal-containing surface frost resistant.

11 . The article according to claim 10 , wherein a base coating layer [coating layer (BL)] is sandwiched between the metal or metal-containing surface and the top coating layer (TL).

12 . The article according to claim 10 , wherein said article is part of a heating and/or cooling system.

13 . A coating composition [composition (C)] comprising:

at least one copolymer [copolymer (ZW-CA)] comprising

(a) repeating units [units (R ZW )] derived from at least one zwitterionic monomer [monomer (A)], and

(b) repeating units [units (R CA )] derived from at least one carboxylic acid and/or carboxylic anhydride containing monomer [monomer (B)], and

at least one crosslinking agent [crosslinking agent (CL)],

wherein said crosslinking agent (CL) is a polyol.

14 . The coating composition (C) according to claim 13 , wherein the polyol is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol polymers, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, neopentyl glycol hydroxypivalate, cyclohexanedimethanol, butane-1,4-diol, pentane-1,5-diol, pentane-1,2-diol, hexane-1,6-diol, nonane-1,9-diol, glycerol, polyglycerol, trimethylolpropane, trimethylolpropane dimer, pentaerythritol, di pentaerythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)hexanediamide, N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-hydroxypropyl)hexanediamide, triethanolamine, triisopropanolamine, N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine, N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-hydroxypropyl)ethylenediamine, trimethylol melamine, dimethylolurea, 1,1,3-tris(hydroxymethyl)urea, 1,1,3,3-tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)urea, alkoxylated polyols such as pentaerythritol ethoxylate, pentaerythritol propoxylate, and mixtures thereof.