Finally, we were curious if we could release a loaded cargo from the hydrogel matrix, as a result of girradiation triggered hydrogel contraction (Figure ). In this experiment, we used hydrogels loaded with model compound 1,4-phthalic acid. The hydrogel cubes were isolated from the surrounding water volume by placing them on a glass plateau inside a closed glass vial (Figure ). This experiment setup allowed us to limit passive diffusion of 1,4-phthalic acid from the hydrogel matrix and only observe the 'squeezing' effect by contraction. We found that the UV/Vis absorbance (240 nm) of the water volume of the g-irradiated hydrogel increases over time, indicating the release of 1,4-phthalic acid, while the absorbance of the water volume of the control gel stayed stable over time (Figure ). In conclusion, we here demonstrate a versatile g-irradiation triggered hydrogel crosslinking strategy that enables control over hydrogel stiffness, contraction, release and fusion. We found a linear relationship between the g-irradiation dose and the degree of hydrogel contraction, with a more pronounced effect in water than in phosphate buffer. The stiffness of the hydrogels increased 2-fold for H2O swollen hydrogel and 3-fold for PB swollen hydrogels after g-irradiation, which is the result of the increased crosslink density. g-irradiation triggered crosslinking enables fusion of hydrogel objects. In addition, we show that g-irradiation triggered hydrogel contraction can be used to squeeze out a cargo. All together our finding provides for a g-irradiation sensitive material having potential in material science and triggered release applications.