In this study, hydrogels having a thermoresponsive character were prepared from the ternary systems N-isopropylamide/acrylamide/2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate by a redox copolymerization method. Hydrogels with different thermoresponsive properties were obtained by changing the initial NIPAM/AAm and NIPAM/HEMA mole ratios and total monomer concentration. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.