Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Devices
Open Access

Hydrogels

A hydrogel is an example of a smart material. It can change its structure in response to salt concentration, pH and temperature Hydrogels are cross linked polymers that have hydrophilic groups. They are often polymers containing carboxylic acid groups. One common polymer used to make hydrogels is sodium polyacrylate. The chemical name for this polymer is poly(sodium propenoate) randomly coiled molecules.