Polymer suitable as a thickener

Abstract

The invention relates to polymer comprising structural units according to formula (I), R—X—(C═O)—NH—R—NH—(C═O)—O—POA-R—(O—POA-R)wherein Rrepresents an organic group terminated by a hydrocarbyl group having 6 to 50 carbon atoms, X represents O or N—R, wherein R5 represents a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbyl group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, Rrepresents an aliphatic hydrocarbyl group having 4 to 40 carbon atoms, POA represents a polyoxyalkylene group, R3 represents an organic group having 2 to 40 carbon atoms, n is an integer from 1 to 6, Ris independently selected from —(C═O)—NH—R—NH—(C═O)—X—R, —(C═O)—NH—R, —R, wherein Rrepresents a hydrogen atom or an aliphatic or aromatic group having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, and wherein the polymer has an average of at least 1.8 end groups Rper molecule, a number average molecular weight in the range of 2000 to 100000 Daltons, a polydispersity in the range of 1.0 to 5.0, wherein the quotient of the polydispersity divided by (n+1) is less than 1.0, with the proviso that the polymer is not the reaction product of a) the mono-adduct of isophorone diisocyanate with 1-dodecanol and b) a polyether based on glycerol and a mixture of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide with an OH number of 18 mg KOH/g.