2. Polymer Gels as EAPs: Materials

Smart hydrogels, exhibiting response to various stimuli such as temperature, pH, light, electric field, etc., have been extensively explored due to their high potential in different areas ranging from actuators to biomedical applications. A number of synthetic pathways have been developed to synthesize hydrogels with desired chemical structure and to tune the mechanical properties and the swelling degree of these switchable materials. These synthetic approaches also provide the possibility of incorporating various functionalities inside hydrogel network and thus in turn controlling their response. The available methods for the fabrication of various types of functional hydrogels and their characteristic properties will be reviewed in this chapter.