Compositions and Methods for Treating Tissue Products

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of papermaking. More particularly, the disclosure relates to compositions and particles that may be used to improve tissue and/or towel paper dry strength and softness.

Tissue making involves the preparation of a parent tissue sheet from an aqueous suspension of cellulosic fibers by forming a wet web of interwoven fibers and removing water from the wet web by various dewatering methods, such as free drainage, vacuum, pressing, evaporative drying and convective drying. The sheet is then transferred to heated dryer(s) (e.g., a Yankee dryer, a through-air dryer, or the combination of through-air dryer(s) and a Yankee dryer) to further reduce the moisture content by evaporative and convective (hot air impingement from hoods) drying. The sheet is then subjected to either a creping process where it is scraped off from the Yankee dryer or separated from transport fabrics after through-air drying.

When conducting a tissue making process, a number of factors need to be considered to assure the quality of the resulting tissue product. For example, when draining water from the slurry, care should be taken to retain as many fibers as possible. Additionally, the process should be carried out in a manner such that the resulting sheet has adequate strength.

The ability to form tissue products of superior strength at minimal cost is important to the manufacture of tissue products. Tissue strength is dependent upon a number of factors, including choice of fibers, refining methods, press loading, and chemical additives employed. There has been an increase in the use of lower quality fiber sources or higher contents of hardwood fibers and the use of such fibers often leads to the need for increased refining, greater press loads, and/or strength additives.

Greater refining usually results in undesirable tissue properties, such as increased paper density, reduced tear, decreased porosity, reduced bulkiness and softness, and slower production speed. Increasing press loads has mechanical limitations, such as sheet crushing, and can also lead to inefficient tissue production. Thus, strength additives are commonly added to the tissue making process to enhance tissue tensile strength.

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for enhancing tissue production processes. The methods utilize a superior dry strength additive to surpass strength targets, thereby enabling a reduction in refining load or substitution of high-quality long fibers with cost-effective low-quality fibers. This helps minimize undesirable tissue properties associated with excessive refining or low-quality of fibers and thus allows for the manufacture of high-strength and high-softness tissue products.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a composition comprising a colloidal particle, the colloidal particle comprising a polymer embedded within a colloidal aluminum hydroxide complex and/or a colloidal ferric hydroxide complex, wherein the polymer comprises a cationic charge density of about −1.0 meq/g to about 8.5 meq/g.

The present disclosure also provides a method of increasing the softness and strength of a tissue product. The method comprises adding a composition to a tissue making machine, wherein the composition comprises a colloidal particle, the colloidal particle comprising a polymer embedded within a colloidal aluminum hydroxide complex and/or a colloidal ferric hydroxide complex, wherein the polymer comprises a cationic charge density of about −1.0 meq/g to about 8.5 meq/g.

The disclosure provides additional methods of increasing the softness and strength of a tissue product comprising adding a polymer to a tissue making process water, adding an aluminum salt and/or a ferric salt to the tissue making process water, and forming a colloidal particle in the tissue making process water, wherein the colloidal particle comprises the polymer embedded within a colloidal aluminum hydroxide complex and/or a colloidal ferric hydroxide complex, wherein the polymer comprises a cationic charge density of about −1.0 meq/g to about 8.5 meq/g.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of this application. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiments disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other embodiments for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent embodiments do not depart from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.

Various embodiments of the presently disclosed technology are described below. The relationship and functioning of the various elements of the embodiments may be better understood by reference to the following detailed description. However, embodiments are not limited to those explicitly described below.

The term “aluminum salt” as used herein refers to an inorganic compound containing an aluminum ion, which includes, but is not limited to, alum, aluminum chloride, aluminum sulfate, PAC, and aluminum chlorohydrate. An aluminum salt is the compound that contributes aluminum ions in water solutions. It may include, but is not limited to, aluminum sulfate, aluminum chloride, aluminum phosphate, aluminum nitrate, and aluminum acetate.

The term “ferric salt” as used herein refers to an inorganic compound containing a ferric ion, which includes, but is not limited to, ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, polyferric sulfate, and polyferric chloride. A ferric salt is the compound that contributes ferric ions in water solutions. It may include, but is not limited to, ferric sulfate, ferric chloride, ferric phosphate, ferric nitrate, and ferric acetate.

The terms “co-feed,” “co-feeding,” “co-fed,” and the like refer to the addition of two or more components, ingredients, chemicals, and the like, to a location, such as a reaction vessel, storage container, and/or the papermaking machine, separately but essentially/substantially at the same time and location. For example, two components, such as a polymer and an inorganic salt, may be fed into a location in the wet end of a tissue making machine, such as the furnish, through separate injection pipes. Each pipe may continuously or intermittently inject chemical at the same time to a single location in the tissue making machine or to two or more locations in the tissue making machine that are in close proximity to each other (e.g., within about 1 to about 12 inches, such as from about 1 to about 10 inches, from about 1 to about 8 inches, or from about 1 to about 6 inches).

The term “degree of crosslinking” refers to how many connection bonds, on average, connect one polymer chain to another polymer chain. For example, a polymer sample with an average chain length of 1000 monomer units, wherein 10 monomer units are connected to another chain has a degree of crosslinking of 1%.

A “tissue” product as described herein encompass all types of fiber webs that contain virgin or recycle fibers, alternative fibers including bamboo, wheat straw, miscanthus, switchgrass, sorghum, bagasse, rice straw, flax straw, hemp, kenaf, natural and/or synthetic fibers, including cellulosic fibers, wood fibers, cotton fibers, fibers derived from recycled paper, rayon, nylon, fiberglass, and polyolefin fibers, for example.

The term “weight average molecular weight” refers to the molecular weight average of polymer determined by static light scattering measurement, specifically by Size-Exclusion-Chromatography/Multi-Angle-Laser-Light-Scattering (SEC/MALLS) technique. The polymer of the present disclosure has a weight average molecular weight of from about 10,000 to about 10,000,000 Daltons.

The term “average particle size” refers to the average size of particles determined by a dynamic light scattering particle size analyzer when particles are less than 10 microns and by a laser diffraction size analyzer when the particle size is between 1 and 10 microns. The particle of the present disclosure has an average particle size of from about 0.01 to about 10 microns.

The term “pulp furnish” or “furnish” means a mixture comprising a liquid medium, such as water, within which solids, such as fibers (e.g., cellulose fibers) and optionally fillers, are dispersed or suspended such that between about >99% to about 45% by mass of the furnish is liquid medium. The portion of the tissue making process prior to the press section (or prior to the through air dryers if working on a TAD machine) where a liquid medium, such as water, comprises more than about 45% of the mass of the substrate is referred to as the “wet end.” When working with a TAD machine, through air dryers will dry the sheet from approximately 20% consistency to about 65-90% consistency prior to the Yankee dryer. The term “dry end” refers to that portion of the tissue making process including and subsequent to the press section (or through air dryers) where a liquid medium, such as water, typically comprises less than about 45% of the mass of the substrate. The compositions and methods disclosed herein can be incorporated into or carried out in the “wet end” and/or “dry end” of the tissue making process.

The pulp furnish, and thus a sheet formed from the furnish, may comprise, for example, a natural fiber, a synthetic fiber, a chemical pulp, a mechanical pulp, a vegetable fiber, a virgin fiber, an alternative fiber, a recycled fiber, a filler, or any combination thereof.

The present disclosure provides compositions, particles and methods of using the compositions and particles in tissue making processes and/or towel making processes. When the present disclosure refers to a “tissue” product or a “tissue making” process, those terms are intended to encompass not only tissue and tissue making but also a towel product or a towel making process.

In some embodiments, the compositions and particles are used in methods for increasing softness and/or the strength, such as the dry strength, of a tissue product. The compositions, which may be aqueous compositions, may include a colloidal particle, which may be interchangeably referred to as a “particle” throughout the present disclosure. The particle comprises a polymer embedded within a colloidal aluminum hydroxide complex and/or a colloidal ferric hydroxide complex.

In some embodiments, the particle of the present disclosure is formed by mixing a trivalent ion, such as an aluminum salt and/or a ferric salt, with a polymer and the resulting mixture is added to a tissue making machine. In a typical tissue making process, however, if a trivalent ion, such as a polyaluminum chloride, is to be added to the process water, it is added alone as a charge scavenger. One of ordinary skill in the art would not attempt to combine it with other compounds, such as the polymer of the present disclosure, before addition to the tissue making machine because it would be expected that the polymer would interfere with the charge scavenger and destroy its intended function.

The polymer of the present disclosure is chemically and/or physically entangled and/or embedded in the colloidal aluminum hydroxide and/or colloidal ferric hydroxide complex. The polymer may include one or more anionic monomers, one or more cationic monomers, one or more non-ionic monomers, one or more zwitterionic monomers, or any combination of these monomers.

In some embodiments, the polymer has a net negative charge and in other embodiments, the polymer has a net positive charge or a neutral charge at neutral pH. In certain embodiments, the polymer is water-soluble. In some embodiments, the polymer comprises a carboxylic acid group.

For example, the polymer may comprise from about 0.1 mol % to about 50 mol % of the carboxylic acid, such as about 1 mol % to about 40 mol %, about 1 mol % to about 30 mol %, about 1 mol % to about 20 mol %, about 1 mol % to about 10 mol %, about 10 mol % to about 50 mol %, about 20 mol % to about 50 mol %, about 30 mol % to about 50 mol % or about 40 mol % to about 50 mol %.

In some embodiments, the polymer comprises from about 1 mol % to about 8 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 7 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 6 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 5 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 4 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 3 mol %, or from about 1 mol % to about 2 mol % of the carboxylic acid, such as about 1 mol %, about 2 mol %, about 3 mol %, about 4 mol %, about 5 mol %, about 6 mol %, about 7 mol %, or about 8 mol % of the carboxylic acid.

Illustrative, non-limiting examples of non-ionic monomers that may be included in the polymer may be selected from acrylamide, methacrylamide, N,N-dimethylacrylamide, N,N-diethylacrylamide, N-isopropylacrylamide, N-vinylformamide, N-vinylmethylacetamide, N-vinyl pyrrolidone, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, hydroxyethyl acrylate, hydroxypropyl acrylate, hydroxypropyl methacrylate, N-tert-butylacrylamide, N-methylolacrylamide, diallylamine, allylamine, and the like.

Illustrative, non-limiting examples of anionic monomers include acrylic acid, and its salts, including, but not limited to sodium acrylate, and ammonium acrylate, methacrylic acid, and its salts, including, but not limited to sodium methacrylate, and ammonium methacrylate, AMPS, the sodium salt of AMPS, sodium vinyl sulfonate, styrene sulfonate, maleic acid, and its salts, including, but not limited to the sodium salt, and ammonium salt, sulfonate itaconate, sulfopropyl acrylate or methacrylate or other water-soluble forms of these or other polymerizable carboxylic or sulphonic acids, sulfomethylated acrylamide, allyl sulfonate, sodium vinyl sulfonate, itaconic acid, acrylamidomethylbutanoic acid, fumaric acid, vinylphosphonic acid, vinylsulfonic acid, allylphosphonic acid, sulfomethylated acrylamide, phosphonomethylated acrylamide, and the like.

Illustrative, non-limiting examples of cationic monomers include dialkylaminoalkyl acrylates and methacrylates and their quaternary or acid salts, including, but not limited to, dimethylaminoethyl acrylate methyl chloride quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl acrylate methyl sulfate quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl acrylate benzyl chloride quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl acrylate sulfuric acid salt, dimethylaminoethyl acrylate hydrochloric acid salt, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate methyl chloride quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate methyl sulfate quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate benzyl chloride quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate sulfuric acid salt, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloric acid salt, dialkylaminoalkylacrylamides or methacrylamides and their quaternary or acid salts, such as acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride, dimethylaminoethyl acrylate methyl chloride quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl acrylate benzyl chloride quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate methyl chloride quaternary salt, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate benzyl chloride quaternary salt, methacrylarnidopropyl trimethylammonium chloride, dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide methyl sulfate quaternary salt, dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide sulfuric acid salt, dimethylaminopropyl acrylamide hydrochloric acid salt, methacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride, dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide methyl sulfate quaternary salt, dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide sulfuric acid salt, dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide hydrochloric acid salt, diethylaminoethylacrylate, diethylaminoethylmethacrylate, diallyldiethylammonium chloride, diallyldimethylammonium chloride, and the like.

Illustrative, non-limiting examples of zwitterionic monomers include N,N-dimethyl-N-acryloyloxyethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)-ammonium betaine, N,N-dimethyl-N-acrylamidopropyl-N-(2-carboxymethyl)-ammonium betaine, N,N-dimethyl-N-acrylamidopropyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)-ammonium betaine, N,N-dimethyl-N-acrylamidopropyl-N-(2-carboxymethyl)-ammonium betaine, 2-(methylthio)ethyl methacryloyl-S-(sulfopropyl)-sulfonium betaine, 2-[(2-acryloylethyl)dimethylammonio]ethyl 2-methyl phosphate, 2-(acryloyloxyethyl)-2′-(trimethylammonium)ethyl phosphate, [(2-acryloylethyl)dimethylammonio]methyl phosphonic acid, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), 2-[(3-acrylamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]ethyl 2′-isopropyl phosphate (AAPI), 1-vinyl-3-(3-sulfopropyl) imidazolium hydroxide, (2-acryloxyethyl) carboxymethyl methylsulfonium chloride, 1-(3-sulfopropyl)-2-vinylpyridinium betaine, N-(4-sulfobutyl)-N-methyl-N, N-diallylamine ammonium betaine (MDABS), N,N-diallyl-N-methyl-N-(2-sulfoethyl) ammonium betaine, and the like.

In some embodiments, the polymer comprises a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl acrylate (“DMAEA”), 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (“DMAEM”), 3-(dimethylamino) propyl methacrylamide (“DMAPMA”), 3-(dimethylamino) propyl acrylamide (“DMAPA”), 3-methacrylamidopropyl-trimethyl-ammonium chloride (“MAPTAC”), 3-acrylamidopropyl-trimethyl-ammonium chloride (“APTAC”), N-vinyl pyrrolidone (“NVP”), diallyldimethylammonium chloride (“DADMAC”), diallylamine, 2-(acryloyloxy)-N,N, N-trimethylethanaminium chloride (“DMAEA.MCQ”), 2-(methacryloyloxy)-N,N,N-trimethylethanaminium chloride (“DMAEM.MCQ”), N,N-dimethylaminoethyl acrylate benzyl chloride (“DMAEA.BCQ”), N, N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate benzyl chloride (“DMAEM.BCQ”), 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (“AMPS”), 2-acrylamido-2-methylbutane sulfonic acid (“AMBS”), acrylamide tertbutylsulfonate (“ATBS”), [2-methyl-2-[(1-oxo-2-propenyl)amino]propyl]-phosphonic acid, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, maleic acid, itaconic acid, a salt of any of the foregoing monomer units, and any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the polymer comprises a glyoxalated polyacrylamide (GPAM), a polyvinylamine (PVAM), a polyethylenimine (PEI), a polyamidoamine epichlorohydrin (PAE), or any combination thereof.

Additional examples of polymers can be found in Table 1.

In Table 1, DAAM refers to diacetone acrylamide, AAEM refers to acetoacetoxyethyl methacrylate, and MAA refers to methacrylic acid. In some embodiments, the polymer comprises about 90 mol % acrylamide, about 8 mol % DMAEA.MCQ and about 2 mol % itaconic acid.

The mole percentage of each monomer in the polymer is not particularly limited. In some embodiments, the polymer comprises from about 1 mol % to about 99 mol % of the cationic monomer. For example, the polymer may comprise from about 1 mol % to about 90 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 80 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 70 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 60 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 50 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 40 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 30 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 20 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 10 mol %, from about 10 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 20 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 30 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 40 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 50 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 60 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 70 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 80 mol % to about 99 mol %, or from about 90 mol % to about 99 mol % of a cationic monomer.

In some embodiments, the polymer comprises from about 1 mol % to about 99 mol % of the anionic monomer. For example, the polymer may comprise from about 1 mol % to about 90 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 80 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 70 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 60 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 50 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 40 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 30 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 20 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 10 mol %, from about 10 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 20 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 30 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 40 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 50 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 60 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 70 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 80 mol % to about 99 mol %, or from about 90 mol % to about 99 mol % of an anionic monomer.

In some embodiments, the polymer comprises from about 1 mol % to about 99 mol % of a non-ionic monomer. For example, the polymer may comprise from about 1 mol % to about 90 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 80 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 70 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 60 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 50 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 40 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 30 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 20 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 10 mol %, from about 10 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 20 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 30 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 40 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 50 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 60 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 70 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 80 mol % to about 99 mol %, or from about 90 mol % to about 99 mol % of a non-ionic monomer.

In some embodiments, the polymer comprises from about 1 mol % to about 99 mol % of a zwitterionic monomer. For example, the polymer may comprise from about 1 mol % to about 90 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 80 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 70 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 60 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 50 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 40 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 30 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 20 mol %, from about 1 mol % to about 10 mol %, from about 10 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 20 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 30 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 40 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 50 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 60 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 70 mol % to about 99 mol %, from about 80 mol % to about 99 mol %, or from about 90 mol % to about 99 mol % of a zwitterionic monomer.

In certain embodiments, the polymer disclosed herein comprises from about 1 mol % to about 10 mol % of the cationic monomer and about 1 mol % to about 5 mol % of the anionic monomer. For example, the polymer may comprise from about 5 mol % to about 10 mol % of the cationic monomer, such as about 6 mol %, about 7 mol %, about 8 mol %, or about 9 mol % of the cationic monomer, and about 1 mol %, about 2 mol %, about 3 mol %, about 4 mol %, or about 5 mol % of the anionic monomer.

In some embodiments, the polymer is not a disaccharide or a polysaccharide. In certain embodiments, the polymer excludes monosaccharide monomers. In certain embodiments, the composition or particle disclosed herein excludes a polysaccharide, an anionic polysaccharide, and/or pulp fibers. In some embodiments, the polymer excludes a hydroxamic acid group, an isocyanate group, N-bromoamine and/or N-chloroamine. In certain embodiments, the polymer comprises unmodified/unreacted amide and/or amine side chains. In some embodiments, if the polymer comprises amide and/or amine side chains, less than 10% of those side chains, such as less than 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1% or 0%, are modified/reacted with other functional groups before the polymer is embedded within a colloidal aluminum hydroxide complex and/or a colloidal ferric hydroxide complex.

In some embodiments, a polymer of the present disclosure is a water-soluble amphoteric polymer containing a carboxylic acid group. In certain embodiments, a polymer of the present disclosure may be linear, branched, crosslinked, structured, synthetic, semi-synthetic, natural, and/or functionally modified. A polymer of the present disclosure can be in the form of a solution, a dry powder, a liquid, or a dispersion, for example.

The weight average molecular weight of the polymer is not particularly limited. In some embodiments, the polymer has a molecular weight ranging from about 10,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da. For example, the polymer may have a molecular weight ranging from about 10,000 Da to about 5,000,000 Da, from about 10,000 Da to about 3,000,000 Da, from about 10,000 Da to about 1,000,000 Da, from about 10,000 Da to about 750,000 Da, from about 10,000 Da to about 500,000 Da, from about 10,000 Da to about 250,000 Da, from about 10,000 Da to about 100,000 Da, from about 10,000 Da to about 50,000 Da, from about 100,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da, from about 500,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da, from about 750,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da, from about 1,000,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da, from about 3,000,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da, from about 5,000,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da or from about 8,000,000 Da to about 10,000,000 Da.

As additional examples, the weight average molecular weight of the polymer may be from about 200,000 Da to about 1,000,000 Da, such as from about 200,000 Da to about 800,000 Da, from about 200,000 Da to about 600,000 Da, or from about 300,000 to about 500,000 Da.

In the SEC/MALLS analysis of the present disclosure, the polymer solution was diluted with an aqueous mobile phase (0.3M NaCl, 0.1M NaHPO, 25 ppm NaN) to about 0.05%. About 200 μL of the solution was injected into a set of TSKgel PW columns (TSKgel GMPW+GMPW+G1000PW), and the mobile phase had a flow rate of about 1.0 mL/min. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as standard for multiangle light scattering detector normalization. The calibration constant of the RI detector was verified with sodium chloride (NaCl).

In some embodiments, the polymer may be crosslinked with the aluminum or iron of the aluminum hydroxide complex or the ferric hydroxide complex. In some embodiments, the polymer has a degree of crosslinking greater than 1%, greater than 2%, greater than 3%, greater than 4%, greater than 5%, greater than 6%, greater than 7%, greater than 8%, greater than 9% or greater than 10%. In certain embodiments, the polymer has a degree of crosslinking less than about 50%, less than about 40%, less than about 30% or less than about 20%. For example, the polymer may have a degree of crosslinking from about 1% to about 50%, from about 5% to about 50%, from about 10% to about 50%, from about 15% to about 50%, from about 20% to about 50%, from about 30% to about 50%, from about 2% to about 25%, from about 2% to about 20%, from about 2% to about 15%, from about 2% to about 10%, from about 3% to about 25%, from about 3% to about 20%, from about 3% to about 15%, from about 3% to about 10%, from about 4% to about 25%, from about 4% to about 20%, from about 4% to about 15% or from about 4% to about 10%.

In some embodiments, the crosslink is formed from an interaction/reaction of an anionic monomer and the iron and/or aluminum. For example, the polymer may comprise a carboxylic acid group and a crosslink may be formed from a reaction/interaction between the carboxylic acid group and the iron and/or aluminum.

The polymer of the present disclosure may have, in some embodiments, a charge density between about −1.0 meq/g to about 8.5 meq/g at neutral pH. In some embodiments, the polymer comprises a cationic charge density of greater than about 0.5 meq/g or greater than about 1.5 meq/g at neutral pH. For example, the polymer may have a cationic charge density of about −1.0 to about 8.0, about −1.0 to about 7.5, about −1.0 to about 7.0, about-1.0 to about 6.5, about −1.0 to about 6.0, about −1.0 to about 5.5, about −1.0 to about 5.0, about −1.0 to about 4.5, about −1.0 to about 4.0, about −1.0 to about 3.5, about −1.0 to about 3.0, about −1.0 to about 2.5, about −1.0 to about 2.0, about −1.0 to about 1.5, about −1.0 to about 1, about 0.5 to about 4.0, about 0.5 to about 3.0, about 0.5 to about 2.0, about 1.0 to about 4.0, about 1.0 to about 3.5, about 1.0 to about 3.0, about 1.0 to about 2.5, about 1.0 to about 2.0, about 1.0 to about 8.5, about 1.5 to about 8.5, about 2.0 to about 8.5, about 2.5 to about 8.5, about 3.0 to about 8.5, about 3.5 to about 8.5, about 4.0 to about 8.5, about 5.0 to about 8.5, about 6.0 to about 8.5, about 1.1, about 1.2, about 1.3, about 1.4, about 1.5, about 1.6, about 1.7, about 1.8, or about 1.9 meq/g at neutral pH (about 7).

An aqueous medium may comprise the colloidal particle (thereby forming an aqueous colloidal composition) and the aqueous medium may have a pH, for example, from about 2 to about 8.5, from about 4.5 to about 8.5, from about 5.5 to about 8.5, from about 5.5 to about 8, from about 6 to about 8 or from about 7 to about 8. In some embodiments, the aqueous medium comprises a pH from about 3.5 to about 8.5.