Water-soluble and/or water-swellable hybrid polymer

A process for thickening, adding structure to, and/or modifying a rheology of a composition comprising the step of adding at least one water-soluble and/or water-swellable hybrid polymer comprising:

• (i) from 5 wt.-% to 95 wt.-% water-soluble and/or water-swellable polysaccharide polymer;
• (ii) from 5 wt.-% to 95 wt.-% synthetic polymer comprising:
• (a) from 40 mol-% to 99.9 mol-% repeating units according to Formula (1)
• wherein:
• R1 and R2 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, methyl or ethyl;
• A is a linear or branched C1-C12-alkyl group;
• and Q+is H+, NH4+ organic ammonium ions [NHR5R6R7]+ wherein R5, R6, and R7 independently of one another may be hydrogen, a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 22 carbon atoms, a linear or branched, singularly or multiply unsaturated alkenyl group having 2 to 22 carbon atoms, a C6-C22alkylamidopropyl group, a linear mono-hydroxyalkyl group having 2 to carbon atoms or a linear or branched dihydroxyalkyl group having 3 to carbon atoms, and where at least one of the radicals R5, R6, and R7 is not hydrogen, or Q+is Li+, Na+, K+, ½ Ca++, ½ Mg++, ½ Zn++, ⅓ +++, or mixtures thereof;
• (b) from 0.01 mol-% to 5 mol-% crosslinking or branching units, wherein the crosslinking or branching units result from the incorporation of a monomer comprising at least two olefinically unsaturated double bonds;
• (c) from 0.01 mol-% to 88.51 mol-% of neutral structural units;
• (d) from 1.98 mol-% to 20 mol-% of anionic structural units, wherein the repeating anionic structural units result from the incorporation of a monomer comprising at least one carboxylate anion, and wherein the repeating anionic structural units are different from units (a);
• wherein components (i) and (ii) are polymerized by radical precipitation polymerization in a polar solvent.