Patent ID: 6875479

Claim:
A method comprising: contacting a metallic surface with an aqueous composition comprising water and a) at least one organic film-forming agent comprising at least one water-soluble or water-dispersed polymer with an acid value within the range from 5 to 200 selected from the group consisting of acrylic-polyester-polyurethane mixed polymerisate, acrylic-polyester-polyurethane-styrene mixed polymerisate, ethylene-acrylic-polyester-polyurethane mixed polymerisate, ethylene-acrylic-polyester-polyurethane-styrene mixed polymerisate, ethylene-acrylic mixed polymerisate, ethylene-acrylic-styrene mixed polymerisate, a polyester resin with free carboxyl groups combined with a melamine-formaldehyde resin, a synthetic-resin mixture or mixed polymerisate based on acrylate and styrene; a synthetic-resin mixture, or a mixed polymerisate or a copolymerisate based on styrene; a synthetic-resin mixture, a mixed polymerisate or a copolymerisate based one styrene-butadiene; a synthetic-resin mixture or mixed polymerisate of acrylate and epoxide; a synthetic resin mixture or mixed polymerisate based on an acrylic-modified polyester containing carboxyl groups together with melamine formaldehyde; an ethylene-acrylic mixed polymerisate; acrylate; ethylene; polyester; polyurethane; silicone polyester; epoxide; phenol; styrene; urea polyethylene imine; polyvinyl alcohol; polyvinyl phenol; polyvinyl pyrrolidone; polyaspartic acid; a phosphorous containing vinyl compound, and formaldehyde; b) at least one inorganic compound in particle form with a mean particle diameter, measured by a scanning electron microscope, within the range from 0.005 μm to 0.3 μm, c) at least one lubricant and d) at least one long-chain alcohol; e) at least one organic corrosion inhibitor or at least one crosslinking agent or both, wherein the crosslinking-agent is not a basic compound; f) optionally at least one silane or siloxane, reckoned as silane, and g) optionally at least one organic solvent; wherein said aqueous composition is largely or entirely free from chromium(VI) compounds, wherein no separate chromate coating is applied onto the metallic surface to form a particle-containing film on the metallic surface to form a coated metallic surface, drying the coated metallic surface to form a dried film and optionally curing the dried film, said dried and optionally cured film having a layer thickness within the range from 0.01 μm to 10 μm, determined by detaching a defined area of the dried and optionally cured film and weighing said defined area of said film.