Hydrogels are versatile materials involving a large spectrum of chemical structures to obtain a broad range of applications emerging from sectors as various as diapers, hydroswelling seals for public works, wire & cable water blocking, agricultural & horticultural artificial media, drug delivery devices, stimuli responsive smart polymers, hydrophilic coatings, polymer additives...
This paper deals with the basic features and next ones Hydrogels II – Superabsorbent materials for mass consumption disposable goods & Hydrogels from Hydrophilic Polymers III - An Array of Smart Applications, will deal with more detailed information concerning the applications.
What are hydrogels? The answer, hydrogels are colloidal gels in which the medium is water, is not really satisfying and immediately provokes a second question, 'What is a gel?', and a third one, 'What is a colloid?'These very simple questions lead to various answers, more or less scientific or literary and more or less nebulous, elusive or ambiguous.