Patent ID: 7250253

Claim:
A process for the production of a surface comprising single copolymer chains attached to said surface, wherein each copolymer chain comprises a functional group which allows interaction of the copolymer chain with a sample or probe molecule, comprising the steps of: a) immobilizing a monolayer of radical polymerization initiator molecules on said surface to produce an initiated surface, wherein each of said initiator molecules comprises a functional group for linkage to the surface and a functional group for subsequent initiation of a polymerization reaction on said initiated surface; b) initiating polymerization reactions on said initiated surface with (a) a first set of identical or non-identical monomers, each of which comprises (1) at least one functional group which interacts with a sample or probe molecule and (2) at least one C—C double bond, and (b) a comonomer containing at least one C—C double bond, and then c) growing copolymer chains from said initiated surface in the presence of said set of monomers and said comonomer by a radical polymerization chain reaction involving reaction of the C—C double bond of said set of monomers and said comonomer; wherein the growing of the copolymer chains in step c) linked to said surface results in single copolymer chains attached at a terminus thereof to said surface, and which interact with a sample or probe molecule on said surface.