Organometallic hydrogels

Hydrogels are soft materials with distinct three dimensional (3D) networks capturing a large water content. The similarity of hydrogels to natural tissue has made them the most promising biomaterials for use in human bodies. During the past several decades, hydrogels have attracted considerable attention from scientists in different research fields. With their contributions, the research in this field has experienced significant advances both in content and in style. Organometallic hydrogels, one special category of hydrogels in which metal ions participate in the 3D networks, have become one of the pioneering types of soft materials. Endowed with the unique properties of metal ions and coordination chemistry’s structural diversity, this type of material has shown great potential for intelligent materials as part of a smart future. In this review, we focus on the state-of-theart achievements in organometallic hydrogels and provide bottom-up insights from structure to applications.