Abstract Hydrogel–nanosilver composites based on copolymers from sodium 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropanesulfonate (AMPS) were prepared. The silver nanoparticles (AgNPs, or nanosilver) were synthesized in aqueous media using citrate trisodium as stabilizing agent. The hydrogels were obtained by radical copolymerization of the monomers acrylamide (AAm)/AMPS and N ‐vinylpyrrolidone(VP)/AMPS in the molar ratio [1 : 1], using 3 and 6 mol % of N , N ‐methylene‐bis‐acrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinking reagent. The distribution of the monomers in both copolymers showed a tendency to moderately alternate because the product of their reactivity ratios was near to zero. The hydrogels were immersed in the colloidal dispersion of AgNPs, which generated hydrogen bonds between the carboxylic acid groups that cover the surface of the AgNPs and the pendant amide groups of the copolymers. The formation of the hydrogen bond was confirmed using solid‐state 1 H NMR. The hydrogel–nanosilver composites with a lower percentage of MBA retained more silver. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013