Term: hydrogel https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.HT07519 Definition: gel in which the swelling agent is water. Notes: 0) The @NT07562@ component of a hydrogel is usually a @P04742@. 1) A hydrogel in which the @NT07562@ component is a @CT07563@ may be referred to as an @AT07517@. Related Terms: 1) network (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.NT07562). 2) polymer network (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.P04742). 3) colloidal network (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.CT07563). 4) aquagel (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.AT07517). 5) gel (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.G02600). 6) swelling agent (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.ST07538). Source: PAC, 2007, 79, 1801. 'Definitions of terms relating to the structure and processing of sols, gels, networks, and inorganic-organic hybrid materials (IUPAC Recommendations 2007)' on page 1807 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200779101801) Citation: 'hydrogel' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.HT07519 License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.