Polyurethane thickener

A water-dispersible polyurethane (PU), prepared in the presence of at least one zinc carboxylate or at least one titanium alcoholate or mixtures thereof, with an essentially linear backbone composed of alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic sections, where

• a. the polyurethane comprises two terminal sections (T) which are hydrophobic,
• b. each section T is directly attached to a hydrophilic section (S),
• c. each section S is directly attached to at least one hydrophobic section (D) on at least one side, and
• d. where at least one hydrophilic section (P) is present, where at least one hydrophobic section D attaches directly to P on at least one side of P, where at least one hydrophobic section D separates two sections P if more than one section P is present,
• and the polyurethane comprises at least three hydrophilic sections, and the ratio of the molecular weights of each hydrophilic section S to the molecular weight of each hydrophilic section P is from 1:1.4 to 1:140, the at least two hydrophobic sections D are hexamethylene diisocyanate radicals and the at least one hydrophilic section P is a polyether radical;
• wherein
• the polyurethane comprises the reaction product of:
• a. a linear polyethylene glycol with a number-average molecular weight of 6000 g/mol;
• b. hexamethylene diisocyante;
• c. a non-ionic ethoxylated fatty alcohol, prepared from a saturated iso-C13 alcohol with an average degree of ethoxylation of 10;
• and
• d. a nonionic ethoxylated fatty alcohol, prepared from a saturated C16/C18 alcohol mixture with an average degree of ethoxylation of 11.