Patent ID: 7867951

Claim:
A viscoelastic composition comprising water, not less than about 7% by weight, based on the total weight of the composition, of one or more inorganic salts and from about 0.5% to about 15% by weight, based on the total weight of the composition, of at least one cationic carbohydrate ether to control the viscoelasticity of the viscoelastic composition, wherein the at least one cationic carbohydrate ether comprises one or more cationic fragments and one or more carbohydrate fragments connected through an ether linkage to one or more linker fragments, wherein the ether linkage is between a non-glycosidic hydroxyl group on the one or more carbohydrate fragments and the one or more linker fragments, and wherein carbohydrate refers to a monosaccharide, oligosaccharide, or derivative thereof having a molecular weight equal to or less than 3000 Daltons, and wherein the carbohydrate or derivative thereof is not an alkyl glycoside; each linker fragment is a member selected from the group consisting of an oxygen atom that forms an ether link between two carbohydrate fragments, hydrocarbyl groups having from about 2 to about 30 carbon atoms, and substituted hydrocarbyl groups having from about 2 to about 30 carbon atoms; each cationic fragment comprises one or more quaternary ammonium groups; and the cationic carbohydrate ether comprises at least one hydrophobe, wherein the hydrophobe is chemically bonded to a substituent on the cationic fragment or the linker fragment through either an ester, carboxamide, or carboxamidine functional group.