Hydrogen bonding is a strong intermolecular force that forms a special type of dipole-dipole attraction. Hydrogen bonds form when a hydrogen atom bonded to a strongly electronegative atom is around another electronegative atom with a lone pair of electrons. Hydrogen bonds are stronger than normal dipole-dipole interactions and dispersion forces but they remain weaker than covalent and ionic bonds. In hydrogels, structure and stability of water molecules are highly affected by the bonds. The polar groups in the polymer strongly bind water molecules and form hydrogen bonds which also cause hydrophobic effects to occur. These hydrophobic effects can be exploited to design physically crosslinked hydrogels that exhibit self healing abilities. The hydrophobic effects combined with the hydrophilic effects within the hydrogel structure can be balanced through dangling side chains that mediates the hydrogen bonding that occurs between two separate hydrogel pieces or across a ruptured hydrogel.