Jun 2026· International Journal of Newgen Research in Pharmacy & Healthcare· pp. 242-252· 0 citations· 50 references
Abstract
Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymeric networks capable of retaining large amounts of water, making them highly versatile in a range of biomedical, environmental, and industrial applications. This review provides a comprehensive examination of hydrogel classification, fabrication techniques, and practical utilities. Hydrogels are categorized based on origin (natural, synthetic, and hybrid), crosslinking mechanisms (physical or chemical), and responsiveness to stimuli (pH, temperature, light, and ionic strength). Each class exhibits unique physicochemical and mechanical properties that influence their end-use performance. Fabrication methods, including bulk polymerization, solution casting, freeze-thaw cycling, and advanced techniques like 3D printing and microfluidic patterning, play a critical role in tailoring hydrogel structure and functionality. These processing routes determine the porosity, strength, and drug-release kinetics, which are crucial for applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound healing, biosensing, and soft robotics. Recent advancements in smart hydrogels, including self-healing, shape-memory, and conductive variants, have significantly broadened their scope, particularly in bioelectronics and personalized medicine. However, challenges such as limited mechanical stability, scalability, and long-term biocompatibility remain barriers to widespread clinical and industrial translation. Emerging strategies, such as nanocomposite hydrogels and bioinspired design, aim to overcome these limitations.
Hydrogels are crosslinked three-dimensional polymer network materials with hydrophilic structures that can absorb and retain large amounts of water and/or biological fluids without dissolving, owing to the physical and chemical nature of their crosslinks. They play significant roles in various industrial and environmental applications. In many applications, natural hydrogels have gradually been replaced by synthetic hydrogels because of their superior water absorption capacity, longer lifetime, and diverse sources of raw chemical materials. The main functions of hydrogels are important and diverse, including high water absorption and retention, controlled drug delivery, biocompatibility, soft-tissue-mimicking behavior, swelling and deswelling ability, selective permeability, mechanical support, and environmental remediation. Hydrogels are commonly classified according to their origin, composition, crosslinking type, responsiveness, and structure. They have different applications, particularly in biomedical and healthcare fields, hygiene and personal care products, industrial and engineering applications, agriculture, environmental remediation, and nanotechnology. The literature on hydrogels has expanded considerably, especially in scientific research fields. Therefore, this review examines various publications and technical reports focusing on hydrogel products from an engineering perspective to summarize the technological dimensions of this rapidly advancing multidisciplinary research field. This review aims to summarize and evaluate the preparation, classification, and recent applications of hydrogels, emphasizing their transition from simple water absorbing materials to tailored smart systems. It also highlights the relationship between structural design and functional performance in different sectors, such as drug delivery, wound healing, oil-water separation, and agricultural water management. Finally, the review addresses current challenges and proposes future research directions to improve hydrogel stability, responsiveness, and biocompatibility.
Ahmed Al-Ani, H. Ahmed, Khalid Zainulabdeen et al.· Journal of university of Anb...· 0 citations
Nanocellulose hydrogels are gaining traction as sustainable soft materials, thanks to the high surface area, abundant hydroxyl groups, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and renewability of cellulose nanocrystals and nanofibers. Unlike conventional synthetic polymer hydrogels, those based on nanocellulose offer distinct advantages in building mechanically robust, multifunctional, and eco-friendly three-dimensional (3D) networks. This review highlights recent advances in the preparation, structural design, functionalization, and emerging applications of nanocellulose hydrogels. We begin by comparing major preparation routes — mechanical, chemical, chemical-mechanical and green solvent-based — in terms of efficiency, cost, environmental footprint, and scalability. Next, we discuss hydrogel fabrication strategies including physical and chemical crosslinking, double networks, interpenetrating polymer networks, and pore‑structure control. Emphasis is placed on how interfacial interactions, energy dissipation, and network topology govern mechanical performance. Functionalization methods to introduce stimuli responsiveness, electrical conductivity, self‑healing capability, and interfacial adhesion are then reviewed. Representative applications are covered in biomedical engineering, flexible electronics, smart devices, 3D printing, food packaging, and agricultural uses such as water retention and nutrient release. Finally, we critically examine key challenges: balancing mechanical strength with multifunctionality, dispersing nanofillers in multicomponent systems, limitations of current reinforcement theories, long‑term stability, biosafety, and scalable green manufacturing. This review aims to guide the rational design, functional integration, and practical translation of nanocellulose hydrogels.
Yanhua Liu, Zheng Xu, Peng-Jun Zhao et al.· Journal of Solid Waste Valor...· 0 citations
Hydrogels are highly hydrated three-dimensional polymeric network materials that have attracted considerable attention in medical and biomedical fields owing to their favorable chemical modifiability, physical tunability, biocompatibility, and capacity to mimic key features of native extracellular matrices. With advances in polymer chemistry, crosslinking strategies, stimuli-responsive design, and emerging fabrication technologies, hydrogels have evolved from simple soft materials into multifunctional biomedical systems capable of integrating controlled delivery, tissue support, microenvironmental regulation, biosensing, and disease modeling. These properties make hydrogels particularly relevant for addressing a broad spectrum of human diseases in which conventional therapeutic strategies are often limited by insufficient targeting efficiency, limited therapeutic windows, pronounced systemic side effects, and inadequate restoration of damaged tissue structure and function. In this review, we systematically summarize the design principles and material engineering strategies of hydrogels, including structural construction approaches and functional regulation concepts. We then provide a comprehensive overview of their current biomedical applications, encompassing drug delivery systems, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, biosensing and diagnostic platforms, as well as cell culture and organoid systems. Building on this foundation, we place particular emphasis on recent progress in hydrogel-based therapeutic strategies across diverse human disease contexts, including wound healing, musculoskeletal system repair, cancer, neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disorders, and reproductive system diseases. Finally, we discuss the developmental potential of hydrogels in biomedicine and present an integrated perspective on their clinical translation prospects, with the aim of offering references and insights for the further application of hydrogel materials in future human disease treatment.
An overview of recent advances in stimuli-responsive hydrogels is provided and current challenges related to scalability, biocompatibility, regulatory approval, and commercialization are discussed, along with future perspectives on translating smart and self-healing hydrogel technologies into practical applications in food, biomedical, and tissue engineering.
Brijitta Joseph, A. Bharati, D. Saha· Frontiers in Soft Matter· 0 citations
Hydrogels are three-dimensional hydrophilic polymeric networks known for their high water absorption capacity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and resemblance to the natural extracellular matrix, making them highly valuable in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Recent advances in polymer science, nanotechnology, and bioengineering have led to the development of smart, injectable, self-healing, and nanocomposite hydrogels with improved mechanical strength and stimuli-responsive behavior. These advanced hydrogel systems have shown significant potential in controlled drug delivery, wound healing, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, cancer therapy, and ophthalmic applications. Emerging fabrication technologies such as 3D/4D bioprinting, microfluidics, and electrospinning have further enhanced the design and functionality of hydrogel-based systems. Despite promising progress, challenges related to scalability, long-term stability, sterilization, and clinical translation still remain. This review highlights recent advances in hydrogel synthesis, characterization, biomedical applications, clinical developments, and future perspectives, emphasizing the growing importance of hydrogels as next-generation biomaterials in modern healthcare.
Sachin, Virendra kumar Maurya, Kamalesh Kumar· GLOBAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUT...· 0 citations
Hydrogels have emerged as one of the most versatile classes of biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) due to their striking structural and functional similarities to the native extracellular matrix high water content, tunable physicochemical properties, and excellent biocompatibility. This comprehensive review provides a systematic synthesis of hydrogel-based biomaterials, examining their evolving role in regenerative medicine through a critical analysis of literature published between 2020 and 2026. The fundamental design requirements for regenerative scaffolds, namely biocompatibility, biodegradability, mechanical tunability, and extracellular matrix (ECM) biomimicry, are first established. Subsequently, natural polymers (alginate, chitosan, collagen, gelatin, and hyaluronic acid (HA) and synthetic polymers (polyethylene glycol, PLA, polycaprolactone, PNIPAM) are critically evaluated as hydrogel building blocks, with their advantages, limitations, and representative applications systematically compared. Recent advances in hydrogel fabrication technologies including injectable systems, nanocomposite hydrogels, stimuli-responsive “smart” hydrogels, self-healing formulations, and conductive platforms, are systematically reviewed with specific focus on applications in bone, cartilage, skin, cardiac, neural, and oral tissue engineering. We then examine emerging therapeutic applications beyond traditional scaffolding, including controlled drug/gene delivery, biosensing, and personalized medicine. A critical analysis of translational barriers addresses preclinical model relevance, scalability challenges, sterilization requirements, and evolving regulatory frameworks including the FDA Modernization Act 2.0. Finally, we explore future directions including AI-assisted hydrogel design, patient-specific biofabrication, and “living” hydrogel systems incorporating engineered cells. By identifying evidence-based design principles and persistent knowledge gaps, this review provides a roadmap for accelerating the clinical adoption of next-generation hydrogel-based regenerative therapies.
Jigar Vyas, Nensi Raytthatha, Puja Vyas et al.· Frontiers in Biomaterials Sc...· 0 citations