A dendronised polymer architecture breaks the conventional inverse relationship between porosity and mechanical properties of hydrogels.

We present a series of synthetic polymer hydrogels which break the traditional correlation between pore size and mechanical properties. The hydrogels are prepared from a dendronised polymer architecture based on a methacrylate copolymer to which poly(amido amine) dendrons are attached. Our approach will be useful in tailoring hydrogels for tissue engineering, controlled drug release, and flexible electronics.