ABSTRACT
Hydrogels are three-dimensional cross-linked network structures of hydrophilic polymers. Owing to their flexibility, water absorbing property, and storing capacity within the cross-linked structures, they have gained significant interest in various application fields like medical, cosmetics, environmental, biosensor, and so forth. Hydrogels can be synthesized by both natural as well synthetic monomer/polymer. The interest of the scientific community in using renewable feedstock for hydrogel synthesis has been continuously increasing in the last few decades. This chapter is an effort to highlight the fundamentals of hydrogels and their applications. Here, we discuss the various types of classification based on origin, configuration, cross-linking, ionic charges, etc. In addition, future perspectives on the fate of hydrogels, especially in the medical field, are discussed systematically.
