Rheology additives based on di- or tri-amides and mixtures thereof

A polyfunctional fatty amide which is a diamide or a triamide or a mixture thereof, wherein said polyfunctional fatty amide is represented by:

• A) formula (I):
• [(R2'—OCNH-R1-X)n1—R—(X—R1—NHCO—R2)n—n1] (I)
• with
• n being 2 or 3,
• n1 being equal to 0 or 1,
• R1 being a bivalent oligomer chain segment chosen from alkoxylated polyester and polyether,
• R being a C3-C10 bivalent or trivalent alkylene,
• X being O, NH or N(R3),
• R2 being a hydroxylated or non-hydroxylated C12-C52 hydrocarbon chain of a monocarboxylic fatty acid, wherein said R2 are identical or different when n-n1 is >1, wherein at least one R2 is a hydroxylated C12-C52 hydrocarbon chain with a non-terminal hydroxyl group, and wherein the monocarboxylic fatty acid excludes any polyester or oligoester derived from the self-polycondensation of a hydroxylated fatty acid,
• R2' being a C2 to C10 hydrocarbon chain of a monocarboxylic acid, and
• R3 being a C1-C2 alkyl substituent, or by
• B) formula (II), wherein said polyfunctional fatty amide is a diamide:
• R2CONH-R'—O—[CH2—CH(R4)—O]x—CH2—CH(R4)—NHCOR2′ (II)
• with R' being —CH(CH3)—CH2—
• R2 and R2′ being defined as in said formula (I), and
• each R4 being independently H or methyl
• wherein the value of x is such that a number-average molecular weight Mn of the polyfunctional fatty amide, measured by gel permeation chromatography in tetrahydrofuran as polystyrene equivalents, is from 800 to 4000 when n in formula (I) is 2 and from 1,000 to 6,000 when n in formula (I) is 3,
• and wherein said polyfunctional fatty amide has a melting temperature ranging from 10°C. to 110°C., as measured after two passes on a differential scanning calorimetry (“DSC”) having a temperature ramp rate of 10°C./min.