The invention relates to a process for coating a material surface, comprising
the steps of: (a) applying to the material surface a tie layer comprising a polyionic
material; (b) covalently binding a bifunctional compound comprising an ethylenically
unsaturated double b3nd to the tie layer; and (c) graft polymerizing a hydrophilic
monomer onto the compound comprising the ethylenically unsaturated double bond.
The coated articles that are obtainable by the process of the invention have desirable
characteristics regarding adherences to the substrate, durability, hydrophilicity,
wettability, biocompatibility and permeability and are thus useful for the manufacture
of biomedical articles such as ophthalmic devices.
