Hydrogel

Hydrogel refers to a three-dimensional, hydrophilic polymer network that can absorb and retain substantial amounts of water (often >90% of their weight) while maintaining structural integrity[1][4][6][7]. Owing to their high water content, biocompatibility, and tunable mechanical and chemical properties, hydrogels are widely used in a variety of biomedical applications, including as drug delivery systems, tissue engineering scaffolds, wound dressings, and biosensors[3][6][7][9]. Hydrogels can be formed from both natural (e.g., collagen, hyaluronic acid, chitosan) and synthetic (e.g., polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol) polymers, and their performance depends on properties like cross-linking density, polymer composition, and responsiveness to stimuli such as temperature, pH, or light[2][6][9]. Hydrogels are scaffold materials and delivery platforms, not biological macromolecules or direct drug/protein targets.

Other names

Hydrogels (plural)Hydrogel polymersHydrogel matrices