Inorganic hydrogels: synthetic strategies, properties and applications

Abstract Hydrogels are widely used in various areas of human life. The vast majority of hydrogel materials used are polymer-based. Despite a number of advantages compared to polymer-based materials, studies on inorganic hydrogels are very limited and scattered. They are rarely offered as a basis for development of new functional materials. This review is an attempt to draw attention of researches to inorganic hydrogels. It describes currently existing methods for the synthesis of such hydrogels, their properties, and shows possible applications of the hydrogel materials.