« Back to Glossary Index

crystalline polymers which absorb water and. if needed. can be added to the soil to increase its water holding capacity.

hydrogels (Wikipedia)

A hydrogel is a biphasic material, a mixture of porous, permeable solids and at least 10% by weight or volume of interstitial fluid composed completely or mainly by water. In hydrogels the porous permeable solid is a water insoluble three dimensional network of natural or synthetic polymers and a fluid, having absorbed a large amount of water or biological fluids. These properties underpin several applications, especially in the biomedical area. Many hydrogels are synthetic, but some are derived from nature. The term 'hydrogel' was coined in 1894.

Gelatin, here in sheets for cooking, is a hydrogel.
Peptide hydrogel formation shown by the inverted vial method.
IUPAC definition for a hydrogel
« Back to Glossary Index