Patent ID: 8632838

Claim:
A process for preparing an article having a low-fouling surface on a substrate, the substrate having a surface, a bulk beneath the surface, and a near-surface zone lying between the surface and the bulk, the surface, near-surface zone and bulk containing a composite, the composite comprising a continuous phase of a first material and particles of a second material dispersed in the continuous phase, the first material being polymeric and the first and second material being different, the process comprising (a) treating the substrate surface to reduce the second material from the substrate surface and (b) forming a grafted polymer layer on the treated substrate surface, the treated surface and the grafted polymer layer, in combination, constituting a low-fouling surface having a fibrinogen adsorption of less than about 125 ng/cm 2 in a fibrinogen binding assay in which the low-fouling surface is incubated for 60 minutes at 37° C. in a composition containing 70 μg/ml fibrinogen derived from human plasma and 1.4 μg/ml I-125 radiolabeled fibrinogen, wherein treating the substrate surface comprises contacting the substrate surface with a solution containing an acid, a base or a chelating agent to remove the second material from the substrate surface.