Rheology modifiers

1. A polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier comprising an emulsion polymer comprising at least one polysaccharide portion and at least one synthetic portion, said polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier being obtainable by emulsion polymerizing at least one polysaccharide with at least one anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer and at least one nonionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the presence of an initiating system,

the emulsion polymer further comprising at least one associative monomer that is an ethylenically unsaturated monomer containing a hydrophobe and a spacer moiety that spaces the hydrophobe from the backbone of the polymer,

wherein the minimum weight of anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer is about 15 weight percent or more of the total monomer added to the polymerization process,

wherein at least one of the at least one nonionic ethylenically unsaturated monomers is a hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated monomer present in an amount effective to form an emulsion, and

wherein when the polysaccharide portion is obtained from cellulose or a cellulose derivative, the cellulose or cellulose derivative has about 0.1% or greater solubility in water at 25° C.

2. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the polysaccharide portion is obtained from a starch or a starch derivative or a cellulose or a cellulose derivative.

3. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the polysaccharide portion is obtained from a starch or starch derivative selected from the group consisting of thermally treated starch, mechanically treated starch, oxidatively degraded starch, hydrolytically degraded starch, enzymatically degraded starch, chemically modified starches and combinations thereof.

4. The rheology modifier of claim 3 wherein the starch derivative is selected from the group consisting of maltodextrin, dextrin, pyrodextrin, oxidized starch, cyclodextrin, substituted cyclodextrins, higher molecular weight starch, hydrogenated starch hydrolyslates and combinations thereof.

5. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the polysaccharide portion is obtained from a cellulose or cellulose derivative selected from the group consisting of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), hydroxethyl cellulose (HEC), carboxymethyl hydroxethyl cellulose (CMHEC), hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (EHEC), methyl ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (MEHEC), and hydrophobically modified ethyl hydroxy ethyl celluloses (HM-EHEC) and combinations thereof.

6. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer is selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, maleic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid and mixtures thereof.

7. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated monomer is selected from the group consisting of ethyl (meth)acrylate, methyl (meth)acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl (meth)acrylate, vinyl acetate, tertiary butyl acrylamide and combinations thereof.

8. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated monomer has a water solubility of about less than 3 grams per 100 mls of water at 25° C.

9. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the hydrophobe with the spacer moiety is selected from the group consisting of alcohol ethoxylates, alkylphenoxy ethoxylates, propoxylated/butoxylated ethoxylates and ethoxylated silicones.

10. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the minimum weight percent of the polysaccharide portion is about 5% of the polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier and the maximum weight percent of the polysaccharide portion is about 90% of the polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier.

11. The rheology modifier of claim 1 wherein the rheology modifier has a weight average molecular weight of about 5,000,000 or less.

12. A method of making a polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier comprising:

emulsion polymerizing a polysaccharide with at least one anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer, and at least one nonionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the presence of an initiating system,

wherein at least one of the at least one nonionic ethylenically unsaturated monomers is a hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated monomer and is present in an amount effective to form an emulsion, and

wherein the hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated monomer is present an amount effective to form an emulsion,

wherein the minimum weight of anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer is about 15 weight percent or more of the total monomer added to the polymerization process, and

wherein the emulsion polymerization step is conducted substantially free of surfactant.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the polysaccharide is depolymerized before or during the polymerizing step.

14. A composition comprising the rheology modifier according to claim 1 wherein the composition is selected from the group consisting of a personal care composition, a fabric and cleaning composition, an oil field composition, an agricultural composition, a paint composition and a coating composition.

15. A polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier comprising an emulsion polymer comprising at least one polysaccharide portion and at least one synthetic portion, said polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier being obtainable by emulsion polymerizing at least one polysaccharide with at least one anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer and at least one nonionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the presence of an initiating system,

wherein the minimum weight of anionic ethylenically unsaturated monomer is about 15 weight percent or more of the total monomer added to the polymerization process,

wherein at least one of the at least one nonionic ethylenically unsaturated monomers is a hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated monomer present in an amount effective to form an emulsion,

wherein when the Polysaccharide portion is obtained from cellulose or a cellulose derivative, the cellulose or cellulose derivative has about 0.1% or greater solubility in water at 25° C., and

wherein the emulsion polymer is substantially free of surfactant.

16. A stable emulsion system comprising the polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier of claim 1 , unreacted polysaccharide and water, the system comprising at least 10 wt % solids.

17. A stable emulsion system comprising the polysaccharide alkali swellable rheology modifier of claim 15 , unreacted polysaccharide and water, the system comprising at least 10 wt % solids.