Patent ID: 7115255

Claim:
A polymer comprising bonded units of (1) one or more water-soluble units having at least two reactive sites and (2) one or more LCST units having a lower critical solution temperature and at least one reactive site capable of reacting with the reactive sites of the water-soluble unit to form a covalent bond, wherein said LCST units comprise random copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, having an ethylene oxide number of from 1 and greater to 40 and less and a propylene oxide number of from 15 and greater to 60 and lower, and salts thereof, wherein the one or more water-soluble units are selected from the group consisting of a water-soluble polyurethane having at least two reactive sites, xanthan gum, an alginate, a derivative of an alginate, cellulose, a derivative of cellulose, a galactomannan, a derivative of a galactomannan, and polyethyleneimine.