The diverse range of applications has thrust hydrogels into the spotlight of scientific research. From biomedical applications in tissue engineering, drug delivery and wound healing, and consumer care products such as contact lenses to laboratory purification in chromatography and as electrophoresis gels, many researchers are looking at hydrogels for their materials solutions. This rapid expansion of the field has however created a gap between the current knowledge and understanding of hydrogel research and its future outlook. To overcome this, Polymeric and Self Assembled Hydrogels captures the entire landscape of hydrogels research providing a guidebook for academics, industrialists and postgraduates interested in the area. With contributions from the top authorities in the field, the book details the fundamental principles of both synthetic and natural polymeric networks and supramolecular hydrogels from either surfactants or peptides, along with examples of their major applications. This is the resource to give you everything you need to know about hydrogel research.

Oren Scherman is a University Lecturer and Next Generation Fellow in the Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis, University of Cambridge. He completed his PhD in 2004 working on ring-opening metathesis polymerisation and tailor-made, functional polymer architectures under the supervision of Professor Robert H. Grubbs at the California Institute of Technology. From here he went to work on supramolecular polymers at the Eindhoven University of Technology with Professors E.W. (Bert) Meijer and Rint P. Sijbesma before moving to his current position at the University of Cambridge. Xian Jun Loh graduated with a PhD from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2009 and is currently a visiting academic at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge supported by an Agency of Science, Technology and Research, Singapore (A*STAR) Fellowship. He was awarded andA*STAR Graduate Scholarship, A*STAR and received the Pacifichem 2010 Young Scholar Award. His main research interests are in the design of stimuli-responsive polymers for biomedical applications and in chemical education to motivate and nurture aspiring young researchers.

Introduction; Dynamics of Gel Formation; Biomedical Applications of Hydrogels; Physical Gels From Natural Polymers; Thermogelling Polymers; Peptide Hydrogels; Mechanically Strong Gels; Supramolecular Hydrogels; Outlook and Future.