Patent ID: 6852353

Claim:
A method for modifying the surface of an article, said method comprising the steps of: a) depositing at least a polyelectrolytic tie layer onto the surface of said article, wherein said polyelectrolytic tie layer is composed of (i) one layer of a first polyionic material which is adsorbed onto, heteropolarly bound onto, and/or entraped on the surface of the article or (ii) at least one layer of the first polyionic material which is adsorbed onto, heteropolarly bound onto, and/or entraped on the surface of the article and at least one layer of a second polyionic material having charges opposite of the charges of the first polyionic material, wherein said first and second polyionic materials have functional group which provide reactive sites; and b) covalently linking a layer of an active agent to said reactive sites, wherein the active agent is an anti-microbial agent or a polymerization initiator capable of initiating a radical polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated compounds.