In previous studies, crystalline precipitates, not stable hydrogels, were obtained when low-molecular-weight (MW) poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG; weight-average MW = 4005000) was used to interact with -cyclodextrin (-CD). In this study, the gelation ability of low-MW PEG (number-average MW = 2000, PEG-2000) and -CD was systematically investigated through the variation in the concentration of PEG-2000 in water (CPEG-2000) and the feeding molar ratio of the PEG repeat unit to -CD (R). The results show that a stable supramolecular hydrogel could be constructed when CPEG-2000 was kept at 40 mg/mL and R was 6.3. The inclusion complexation between -CD and PEG-2000 and the effect of CPEG-2000 and R on the stability of the hydrogels were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and rheology measurements. The resulting PEG-2000-based hydrogels retained the basic characteristics of supramolecular physical hydrogels, especially the property of shear thinning. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 129: 901-907, 2013