Hydrophilic coatings based on 3-glicidoxy propyl trimethoxy silane (GPTMS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared with the incorporation of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and silica nanoparticle colloidal suspension by a sol-gel process. Characterization of the coatings has been performed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared (ATR-IR) techniques. Morphological properties were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The distribution of Si atoms in the hybrid system was obtained by Si mapping. The particle size in sol solution of the coating was measured by light scattering analyzer. Optical properties were characterized by using UV-vis spectrophotometer. The hydrophilicity of the coating was determined by contact angle measurements, and also the results have been confirmed by surface energy and water uptake investigations. The obtained results indicate that the surfactants affected the contact angles remarkably but did not change the transparency. It has been found that applying silica nano particles leads to coatings with different properties than those using TMOS, while siloxane contents were the same in these two set of coatings. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.