Visible irradiation of a gold surface dipped into a solution of diversely substituted aryldiazonium salts in the presence of a photosensitizer (Ru (bipy) 32+ or eosinY) leads to a modification of the surface by attached aryl groups. A grafted nanometer thick polyphenylene film is obtained. The reaction is extended to a polyvinylchloride (PVC) surface. The mechanism proposed for the formation of this film involves the formation of an ...