Patent ID: 8013094

Claim:
A gelling agent comprising an organopolysiloxane having a silicon-bonded organic group Y represented by general formula (1) and an optionally substituted C 9 or more univalent hydrocarbon group Z: wherein R 1 designates a group containing metal salt of a carboxylic acid represented by formula —COO − (M n+ ) 1/n , where M is a metal that has a valence of 1 or higher, and n is the valence of M; X's designate the same or different C 2 to C 14 bivalent hydrocarbon groups; p designates an integer from 0 to 10; wherein the organopolysiloxane is a linear-chain organopolysiloxane represented by general formula (3): wherein R is a C 1 to C 8 alkyl group except for the organic group represented by general formula (1), Y designates an organic group of general formula (1), B is R, Y or Z, the subscript “s” designates an integer in the range of 10 to 100,000, “t” designates an integer between 0 and 50, and “u” designates an integer between 0 and 1000, and wherein when t=0, at least one of the two B's is Y, when u=0, at least one of the two B's is Z, and when t=0 and u=0, one of the two B's is Y and another is Z; and wherein (s+t+u) is an integer from 20 to 5000, {t/(s+t+u)} is in the range of 0.001 to 0.05, and {u/(s+t+u)} is in the range of 0.001 to 0.30.