US 2010/0076145 A1Published application

Thickener composition and method for thickening aqueous systems

AssigneeRohm and Haas Company

InventorsBarrett Richard Bobsein, Melissa Merlau Johnson, Joseph Joseph Rabasco, Ling Li

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Abstract

A polymer composition with blocks of hydrophobes attached to or within the backbone of an associative thickener. The blocks are composed of two or more units of the same or different hydrophobes whereby the hydrophobe is reversibly switched between being hydrophilic and hydrophobic in nature. When the hydrophobe is rendered hydrophilic, the aqueous thickener is pourable and readily incorporated into aqueous polymer compositions. When this hydrophobe is rendered hydrophobic, the thickener performs its thickening function efficiently, especially in tinted systems. Switching is readily accomplished by adjusting the pH of the associative thickener composition and the aqueous polymer composition being thickened.

Claims11

Dependent claims

An aqueous associative thickener polymer composition comprising:

(a) 1% to 60% by weight of an associative thickener having a backbone comprising a polyoxyalkylene, a polysaccharide, or a polyvinyl alcohol, said associative thickener further comprising blocks of oligomeric hydrophobes that are derived from monomers selected from the group consisting of i) alkyl or aryl moieties containing a polymerizable cyclic monomer or mixture thereof, ii) alkyl or aryl moieties containing polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer or mixture thereof, iii) derivatives of i) or ii), and iv) mixtures of i), ii) or iii), wherein said blocks of oligomeric hydrophobes are attached to or within the polymer backbone and are composed of two or more units of the same or different hydrophobes and wherein one or more of said hydrophobes comprises a secondary amine, or a tertiary amine, or a tertiary phosphine, or a combination thereof, and optionally a quaternary amine, with the proviso that less than 80% of the total amine functionality is a quaternary amine;
(b) sufficient acid to substantially protonate the secondary amine, or the tertiary amine, or the tertiary phosphine, or combination thereof;
(c) 40% to 99% by weight of water;
and
(d) 0% to 15% by weight of an organic co-solvent, surfactant compound, or any combination thereof, as a viscosity-suppressing additive.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.