The development and commercialization of nanoparticles such as nanoclays, carbon nanotubes and polyhedral-oligomeric-sil-sesquioxanes (POSS) offer new possibilities to tailor hydrogels in the nanometer scale range. Due to the large surface area of the nanosize particles, only small amounts are needed to cause significant changes in hydrogels properties. Properties affected include swelling behavior and thermo-mechanical properties. Experimental results showed that only small amounts of POSS (< 5 wt%) were needed to enhance the storage modulus and the swelling ability compared with that of the pure Poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone\ itaconic acid) hydrogel. In the case of epoxy functionalized POSS incorporated into the hydrogel, the weight swelling increased by more than 120% while the volumetric swelling by 350%. In addition the storage modulus increased by 300% compared to the neat hydrogel. The results led to the conclusion that the incorporation of functionalized POSS particles in hydrogels could improve the hydrogel properties.