Patent ID: 8435603

Claim:
A method of forming, on the surface of a substrate, a first solid layer which is capable of activating a chemical reaction to form a second layer thereon, the method comprising applying a first liquid to the substrate surface, the first liquid comprising a curable composition and an activator for said second layer-forming chemical reaction, wherein the activator comprises a metal or metal-containing material and the weight ratio of the curable composition to the metal portion of the activator is greater than about 25:1; wherein the curable composition comprises a mixture of acrylate or methacrylate monomers and/or oligomers which polymerise and/or cross-link on curing, thereby hardening and forming a solid layer, including a proportion of acrylate or methacrylate monomers and/or oligomers having at least 3 cross-linkable functional groups, the curable composition further comprising an initiator which generates free radicals in response to a stimulus to start a curing reaction; and exposing the curable composition to said stimulus to cause free radical curing of the curable composition by polymerization and/or cross-linking to increase adhesion of the composition to the surface of the substrate, thereby forming a first solid layer having a thickness greater than 500 nm, capable of activating said second layer-forming chemical reaction after contact with a second fluid; wherein the first liquid is such that the first solid layer includes a first chemical compound that is at least partially insoluble in the second fluid, and wherein the first solid layer includes a second chemical compound which is at least partially soluble, miscible or swellable in the second fluid.