Abstract: A kind of novel high strength PNIPAM/Clay nanocomposite hydrogel with superior thermo-responsive nature was successfully prepared using in-situ polymerization method. The results of analysis on the structure of hydrogels using FT-IR spectra, scanning electronic microscopy, and transmittance electronic microscopy technologies indicated that the clay platelets were uniformly dispersed into the polymer matrix based on the hydrogen bond interactions among the clay platelets and polymer chains, which facilitated the formation of uniform internal interpenetrating porous network structure. The results of differential scanning calorimetry illustrated that the incorporation of clay into the polymer matrix would not significantly reduce the sensitiveness of thermo-responsive performance of hydrogels, and the study of swelling kinetics demonstrated that the clearly de-swelled behavior occurred when the hydrogels were immersed into the water at 35℃. The mechanical strength of hydrogels could be extensively enhanced from the incorporation of nano-clay platelets.