Patent ID: 8591949

Claim:
An aqueous composition comprising particles of chemically crosslinked hydrosoluble or hydrodispersible chemical microgel wherein said particles of microgel are at least partially reversibly associated with at least one hydrosoluble or hydrodispersible bridging polymer, said polymer comprising a chemical composition that differs from that of said particles; the chemical microgel particles ranging in a quantity from 0.05% to 40% of the dry weight of the composition; the composition having a viscosity of at least three times that of an aqueous solution of chemical microgel particles without the bridging polymer, and three times that of an aqueous solution of bridging polymer without the chemical microgel particles under the same conditions; wherein the bridging polymer includes a number of hydrosoluble motifs representing at least 50% of the number of motifs of the polymer; and further wherein the chemical microgel particles and the bridging polymer include monomers comprising hydrophilic, non-ionic, ionic or potentially ionic, optionally hydrophobic monomers, or combinations thereof.