Introduction

Contact lenses, shoe sole cushions, vitamin capsules, baby diapers and wound dressings, all these objects have a material in common: hydrogels. The use of hydrogels has experienced phenomenal growth and it is now widely used by almost everyone and in almost every imaginable application. Yet, in spite of its wide applicability, there is still intense research work being carried out on hydrogels. Every year, for the past five years, more than 2000 publications are reported in the scientific literature, with the number growing year on year.