Two novel zwitterionic sulfobetaine dimethacrylate crosslinkersN,N-bis(methacryloxyethyl)-N-methyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium (CL1) and N,N-bis(methacryloxyethyl)-N-methyl-N-(4-sulfobutyl)ammonium (CL2) betaines were synthesized and used for preparation of zwitterionic hydrogels formed from N-(methacryloxyethyl)-N,N-dimethyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium betaine (SBDMA) via redox-initiated free-radical polymerization. The commercially available crosslinkers N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide (BIS) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) were also used. Equilibrium water content, sorption degree, diffusion coefficient of water, state of water, degree of crosslinking and mechanical properties were determined for hydrogels crosslinked using different crosslinking conditions. A minor difference in the spacer length between the charged moieties in CL1 and CL2 crosslinkers, respectively, was shown to influence the hydrogel properties. The CL1 and CL2 crosslinkers with chemical structure similar to SBDMA resulted in hydrogels with higher stiffness, mechanical strength and crosslink density compared to hydrogels crosslinked by BIS and EDMA. This difference was assigned to suppression of the compositional drift during the hydrogel formation when crosslinkers with chemical structure similar to monomer were used. PolySBDMA hydrogels exhibited a low adhesion of RAT-2 fibroblasts-like cells. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.