FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a hard surface treatment composition. In particular, the composition comprises both amphoteric acrylic copolymer and amphoteric modified polysaccharide. It was surprisingly found that such composition was capable of delivering good fast-drying performance without noticeable residue/stain on the hard surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hard surface treatment compositions have been widely employed for a long time to keep the household appliances clean and shine. The hard surface treatment compositions typically contain a variety of ingredients which may provide an optimal cleaning experience to the user. For example, fast-drying polymers may be added into hard surface treatment compositions to provide resistance to hard water, easy clean after first time use with repeated use, and etcetera.

However, there may be some problem when incorporated some fast-drying polymer, such as amphoteric acrylic copolymer, into a hard surface treatment composition. There may be undesirable residue/stain on the treated hard surface perhaps due to the addition of the fast-drying polymer.

Therefore, we recognized that there is a need to develop a way to include the fast-drying polymer into the hard surface treatment composition without generation of residue/stains on the treated hard surface. It was surprisingly found that by including amphoteric acrylic copolymer and amphoteric modified polysaccharide in a weight ratio of 0.75:1 to 3:1 , the hard surface treatment composition is capable of providing good fast-drying performance, without generation of residue/stain on the treated hard surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a hard surface treatment composition comprising amphoteric acrylic copolymer and amphoteric modified polysaccharide, wherein the weight ratio of the amphoteric acrylic copolymer to the amphoteric modified polysaccharide is from 0.75:1 to 3:1 and the amphoteric acrylic copolymer is different from the amphoteric modified polysaccharide.

In a second aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for providing surface shine, fast drying, easy secondary cleaning, long-lasting cleaning or a combination thereof comprising a step of contacting the hard surface with a composition of the present invention.

In a third aspect, the present invention is directed to use of the composition of the present invention for surface shine, fast drying, easy secondary cleaning, long-lasting cleaning or a combination thereof.

All other aspects of the present invention will more readily become apparent upon considering the detailed description and examples which follow.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Except in the examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material or conditions of reaction, physical properties of materials and/or use may optionally be understood as modified by the word "about".

All amounts are by weight of the composition, unless otherwise specified.

It should be noted that in specifying any range of values, any particular upper value can be associated with any particular lower value.

For the avoidance of doubt, the word "comprising" is intended to mean "including" but not necessarily "consisting of" or "composed of. In other words, the listed steps or options need not be exhaustive. The disclosure of the invention as found herein is to be considered to cover all embodiments as found in the claims as being multiply dependent upon each other irrespective of the fact that claims may be found without multiple dependency or redundancy. "Hard surface" of the present invention generally refers to any surface in household including the windows, kitchen, bathroom, toilet, furniture, or floor. These surfaces, for example, may be made of glass, glazed ceramics, metal, stone, plastics, lacquer, wood, or combination thereof.

"Copolymer" as used herein refers to a polymer comprising at least two differing monomer compositions.

"Amphoteric" as used herein refers to the polymers have both acid and basic groups and show acidic or basic behavior depending on the conditions

"pH values" herein referred to values are measured at a temperature of 25 °C.

Preferably, the amphoteric acrylic copolymer suitable for the present invention comprises, as polymerized monomers, at least monomer (a) and monomer (b), wherein:

monomer (a) is presented by formula of CH ₂ =CR ¹ -CO-NH-R ² -N ⁺ R ³ R ⁴ R ⁵ X- (1 ), wherein:

R ¹ represents a hydrogen atom or a C1-C4 alkyl radical,

R ² represents a linear or branched Ci-Ci2 alkylene radical, R ³ , R ⁴ , and R ⁵ independently represent a hydrogen atom, an C1-C18 alkyl radical, and

X ^" represents an anion selected from the group of halogens, sulfates, alkylsulfates, hydroxide, phosphate, acetate, or formate; and monomer (b) is an ethylenically unsaturated acids and/or salts thereof.

Preferably the monomer (a) is presented by formula (1 ), in which R ¹ is a methyl radical, or ethyl radical, R ² is a linear C2-C6 alkylene radical, R ³ , R ⁴ , and R ⁵ independently represent a hydrogen atom, an C1-C6 alkyl radical, and X ^" represents an anion selected from the group of halogens, sulfates, alkylsulfates, hydroxide, phosphate, acetate, or formate. More preferably monomer (a) is presented by formula (1 ), in which R ¹ is a methyl radical, R ² is a -CH2-CH2-CH2- group, R ³ , R ⁴ , and R ⁵ each represent a methyl radical, and X ^" represents an anion selected from the group of halogens, sulfates, alkylsulfates, hydroxide, phosphate, acetate, or formate. Most preferably, the monomer (a) is 3- trimethylammoniumpropylmethacrylamide chloride (abbreviated as MAPTAC)

Monomer (b) is preferably a C3-C8 ethylenically unsaturated acids and/or salts thereof. More preferably, monomer (b) is selected from acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or salt thereof. Even more preferably monomer (b) is selected from acrylic acid, alkali metal or ammonium salts of acrylic acid.

The molar ratio of monomer (a) to monomer (b) is preferably from 1 :10 to 10:1 , more preferably from 1 :6 to 4:1 , and even more preferably from 1 :3 to 2:1 .

Even more preferably, the amphoteric acrylic copolymer comprises, as polymerized monomers, at least monomer (a) and monomer (b), wherein monomer (a) is 3- trimethylammoniumpropylmethacrylamide chloride and monomer (b) is acrylic acid or alkali metal salts of acrylic acid.

Preferably, the amphoteric acrylic copolymer comprises addition monomers of ethyl acrylate, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane-sulfonic acid, and/or N-isopropylamide, as polymerized monomers.

Particularly preferred amphoteric acrylic copolymer is acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride/sodium acrylate/ethyl acrylate copolymer, acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride/sodium acrylate/N-isopropylamide/2- acrylamido-2-methylpropane-sulfonic acid copolymer, or a mixture thereof. For example, the acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride/sodium acrylate/ethyl acrylate copolymer suitable for the present invention is commercially available from BASF under the name of Polyquart ^® Ampho 149, the acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride/sodium acrylate/N-isopropylamide/2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane-sulfo nic acid copolymer is commercially available from BASF under the name of Polyquart ^® Pro A.

The amphoteric acrylic copolymer preferably has a weight average molecular weight (Mw), measured by aqueous gel permeation chromatography (GPC) with light scattering detection (SEC- MALLS), in the range of from 10,000 to 500,000 Da, more preferably from 50,000 to 350,000 Da and even more preferably from 100,000 to 200,000 Da.

Preferably the amphoteric acrylic copolymer is present in amount of from 0.0001 to 3%, more preferably from 0.001 to 1 %, even more preferably from 0.008 to 0.1 % and most preferably from 0.01 to 0.05% by weight of the composition.

The amphoteric modified polysaccharide suitable for the present invention is preferably an amphoteric modified starch, more preferably amphoteric modified Zea Mays (Corn) starch. Preferably the amphoteric modified polysaccharide comprises units of aforementioned monomer (a). More preferably, the amphoteric modified polysaccharide comprises units of the aforementioned monomers (a) and (b). Even more preferably the amphoteric modified polysaccharide comprises units of at least monomer (a) and monomer (b), wherein monomer (a) is 3-trimethylammoniumpropylmethacrylamide chloride and monomer (b) is acrylic acid or alkali metal salts of acrylic acid. Still even more preferably the amphoteric modified polysaccharide is modified by 3- trimethylammoniumpropylmethacrylamide chloride and sodium acrylate.

Most preferably, the amphoteric modified polysaccharide has an INCI name of polyquaternium-95. Polyquaternium-95 is commercially available from BASF under the name of Polyquart ^® Ecoclean.

Preferably the amphoteric modified polysaccharide is present in amount of from 0.0001 to 3%, more preferably from 0.001 to 1 %, even more preferably from 0.008 to 0.1 % and most preferably from 0.01 to 0.05% by weight of the composition.

Preferably the weight ratio of the amphoteric acrylic copolymer to the amphoteric modified polysaccharide is from 0.85:1 to 2:1 , and most preferably from 0.9:1 to 1.3:1 . Preferably, the composition additionally comprises non-ionic surfactant. The non-ionic surfactant preferably comprises compounds produced by the condensation of simple alkylene oxides with aliphatic or alkyl-aromatic hydrophobic compound, preferably with aliphatic or alkyl-aromatic alcohol; alkyl polyglucosides; or a mixture thereof. More preferably, the non-ionic surfactant comprises ethoxylated alkyl alcohols, alkyl polyglucosides, or a mixture thereof. Even more preferably the non-ionic surfactants are ethoxylated alkyl alcohols, alkyl polyglucosides, or a mixture thereof. Still even more preferably the non-ionic surfactants are ethoxylated Cs-Ci6 alkyl alcohols, C5-C20 alkyl polyglucosides, or a mixture thereof.

Ethoxylated alkyl alcohols are preferably ethoxylated C8-C12 alkyl alcohols, whereby yet more preferably the average degree of ethoxylation is between 5 and 8. An example of particularly effective (and therefore preferred) surfactants are ethoxylated C9-C11 alkyl alcohols with an average degree of ethoxylation of 8, including for instance the commercially surfactant Neodol 91 -8.

Preferred alkyl polyglucosides are represented by formula of RO - (G) _n , wherein R is a branched or straight chain alkyl group which may be saturated or unsaturated, G is a saccharide group, and the degree of polymerisation, n, may have a value of from 1 to 10; Preferably R has a mean alkyl chain length of from C5 to C20, G is selected from C5 or C6 monosaccharide residues and n has a value of from 1 to 6; more preferably R has a mean alkyl chain length of from C6 to C16, G is glucose and n has a value of from 1 to 2. Suitable alkyl polyglucosides include those from the Glucopon ^® range, e.g. Glucopon ^® 425 N/HH, and Glucopon ^® 215 UP from BASF.

Preferably, the composition comprises ethoxylated alkyl alcohols, alkyl polyglucosides, or a mixture thereof. More preferably the composition comprises ethoxylated Cs-Ci6 alkyl alcohols, C5-C20 alkyl polyglucosides, or a mixture thereof.

Preferably, the amount of the non-ionic surfactant is 0.01 to 20%, more preferably from 0.1 to 15%, even more preferably 0.3 to 7%, and most preferably from 1 to 5% by weight of the composition when present. To adjust the pH of the composition, the composition preferably comprises an organic acid having an average number molecular weight of no greater than 400, more preferably the composition comprises an organic acid having an average number molecular weight of no greater than 200, even more preferably the composition comprises citric acid, lactic acid, maleic acid, malic acid, glycolic acid, or a mixture thereof, and still even more preferably the composition comprises citric acid, lactic acid, or a mixture thereof. If present, the amount of organic acid is preferably from 0.1 to 15%, more preferably from 1 to 5% by weight of the composition.

The hard surface treatment composition of the present invention preferably comprises at least 30% of water by weight of the composition. More preferably, the composition comprises at least 50%, even more preferably from 70 to 99%, still even more preferably from 77 to 97% and most preferably from 84 and 93% of water by weight of the composition.

The composition preferably comprises organic solvents selected from Ci-s alcohol, ether having 2 to 16 carbon atoms, ester of C2-24 organic acid, Ce-18 cyclic terpene, and a mixture thereof. More preferably the composition comprises ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, n-butanol, iso-butanol, n-butoxypropanol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, dipropylene glycol monobutyl ether, propylene glycol monomethyl ether, propylene glycol monopropyl ether, methyl ester of caprylic acid, methyl ester of heptylic acid, dimethyl-2-methyl glutarate, esters of polyglycerol, soybean oil methyl ester, limonene or a mixture thereof. Even more preferably the composition comprises ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, dipropylene glycol monobutyl ether, propylene glycol monomethyl ether, propylene glycol monopropyl ether, methyl ester of caprylic acid, methyl ester of heptylic acid, dimethyl-2-methyl glutarate, esters of polyglycerol, soybean oil methyl ester, limonene or a mixture thereof. Most preferably the composition comprises isopropyl alcohol, dipropylene glycol monobutyl ether, propylene glycol monomethyl ether, propylene glycol monopropyl ether, or a mixture thereof. The organic solvent may be present in the composition in a concentration of 0 to 20%, preferably 0.5-15% by weight of the composition. The composition may comprise from 0.2 to 1 .2% of thickener by weight of the composition. This provides the optimum rheological properties of the composition. Suitable thickeners include the modified celluloses for example hydroxyethyl cellulose. The hard surface treatment composition according to the invention may further comprise dyes, perfume, and/or preservatives. If present, the amount may be from 0.001 to 5% by weight of the composition. The composition preferably has a pH value of from 1 to 4.5, more preferably from 1 .5 to 4, even more preferably from 2.0 to 3.0.

To achieve a consumer favourable appearance, the composition preferably has a transmittance of at least 20%, more preferably at least 40%, even more preferably at least 60% and still even more preferably from 70 to 95%. Values of transmittance quoted herein are percentage that near infrared light having wavelength of 880 nm transmits a 2.5 cm thick sample of the composition at 25 °C. The transmittance of the composition may be tested by Turbiscan Lab Expert (ex Formulation, France) The composition may be packed in any form, but preferably is packaged as a conventional hard surface treatment or cleaning product. The preferred packaging is a spray applicator. Pump dispersers (whether spray or non-spray pumps) and pouring applications (bottles etc) are also possible. It is also possible to impregnate a wipe with the composition. Preferably the composition is a toilet or bathroom cleaner.

The present invention also provides a method for providing surface shine, fast drying, easy secondary cleaning, long-lasting cleaning or a combination thereof comprising a step of contacting the hard surface with a composition of the present invention; and use of the composition of the composition of the present invention for surface shine, fast drying, easy secondary cleaning, long-lasting cleaning or a combination thereof.

The invention will now be described with reference to the following non-limiting examples. Examples

Example 1

This example demonstrated the preparation of formulations. Table 1

a: C9-C11 alcohol ethoxylate, (8EO).

b: C8-Ci6 Alkyl polyglycoside.

c:acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride/sodium acrylate/N-isopropylamide/2-acrylamido- 2-methylpropane-sulfonic acid copolymer.

d: Polyquaternium-95: a copolymer of Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Acrylic Acid and acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride monomers. A series of samples were prepared according to Table 1. Example 2

This example demonstrates the performance of fast-drying and residue reduction. Black glazed ceramic tiles (15cmx15cm) were pre-washed and dried, then placed in a 3 x 3 grid. 4 g of samples was placed in a clockwise circle on the tile grid. Wet cloth (4 times weight of initial dry cloth) was immediately utilized to wipe in zig path on tile grid in one rinse cycle. Then the rinsing cycle was repeated twice by changing the dampen cloth in each rinse cycle. The centered tile was taken out for further evaluation of performance of residue and fast-drying.

The residue was carefully observed under a spotlight and/or human naked eye. The fast- drying performance was also evaluated. The tiles were placed with a tilting angle of 60° and then flushed by tap water with a flow rate of about 60L/hours for 10 seconds. The performance of fast-drying and residue reduction for each samples were summarized in table 2. Table 2

Table 2 shows the results for fast-drying and residue of the samples. It was surprisingly found that compositions of the present invention were capable of providing good fast- drying without generating noticeable residue/stain on the hard surface. It was also surprisingly found that the tile treated by sample 2 is streak-free even under spotlight. In contrast, a number of spots can be found in the tile treated by sample 1 under spotlight.