Abstract: A thickener was prepared by solvent-grafting method with poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride) and ethoxylated fatty alcohol ether as starting materials.The influences on the esterification of reaction temperature,solvent and catalyst examined.The thickener product was characterized by infrared spectrum.The effects of esterification rate,neutralization degree and kinds of neutralization agent on the properties of the thickener product were also examined.The results showed that,the suitable conditions are as follows:reaction temperature,80-90 ℃;reaction solvent,N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF);catalyst,p-toluene sulfonic acid.Under the aforesaid conditions,the triethanolamine was used as the suitable neutralization agent and formulated to a thickener product (white paste) with content of mass fraction 0.5%.The viscosity of the prepared white paste achieves 14.8 Pa·s,and its viscosity retention rate against salt achieves 93.3%.Its PVI value is 0.157.Under weak acid condition,it displays good thickening effect.The thickener product prepared is better than that of market thickener with respect to salt resistance.

Key words: poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride), ethoxylated fatty alcohol ether, thickener, salt resistance