Coated shaped articles and method of making same

A method of making abrasion-resistant shaped articles which comprises the steps of (a) providing a shaped article having a surface formed of a polymer having structural units derived from a multi-functional monomer containing two or more (meth)acryloyloxy groups in the molecule, (b) irradiating the surface of the polymer with ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 300 nm or less, (c) subjecting the irradiated surface to an alkali treatment, (d) coating the irradiated and alkali-treated surface with a coating composition consisting essentially of a silica polycondensate obtained by mixing (I) colloidal silica and (II) at least one hydrolyzable silicon compound selected from the group consisting of compounds of the following formulas (A) to (F)

• SiR.sup.1.sub.a R.sup.2.sub.b (OR.sup.3).sub.c (A)
• SiR.sup.4.sub.d R.sup.5.sub.e (OR.sup.6).sub.f (B)
• SiR.sup.7.sub.g R.sup.8.sub.h (OR.sup.9).sub.i (C)
• SiR.sup.10.sub.j R.sup.11.sub.k (OR.sup.12).sub.l (D)
• SiR.sup.13.sub.m R.sup.14 (OR.sup.15).sub.o (E)
• and
• SiR.sup.16.sub.p R.sup.17.sub.q (OR).sup.18).sub.r (F)
• wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, R.sup.5, R.sup.6, R.sup.8, R.sup.9, R.sup.11, R.sup.12, R.sup.14, R.sup.15, R.sup.17 and R.sup.18 in formulas (A) to (F) are hydrocarbon radicals of 1 to 15 carbon atoms or hydrocarbon radicals of 1 to 15 carbon atoms having an ether linkage or an ester linkage;
• R.sup.4 in formula (B) is a hydrocarbon radical of 2 to 15 carbon atoms having an epoxy group;
• R.sup.7 in formula (C) is a hydrocarbon radical of 1 to 15 carbon atoms having an amino group, R.sup.10 in formula (D) is a hydrocarbon radical of 1 to 15 carbon atoms having a mercapto group;
• R.sup.13 in formula (E) is a hydrocarbon radical of 2 to 15 carbon atoms having a vinyl group;
• R.sup.16 in formula (F) is a hydrocarbon radical of 3 to 15 carbon atoms having a (meth)acryloyloxy group;
• where a, b, d, e, g, h, j, k, m, n, p and q are whole numbers of 0 to 3, c is equal to (4-a-b), f is equal to (4-d-e), i is equal to (4-g-h), l is equal to (4-j-k), o is equal to (4-m-n), and r is equal to (4-p-q);
• in such a molar ratio that the average number of hydrolyzable groups calculated from the following equation (1) is within the range of 2.30 to 3.85,
• average number of hydrolyzable groups ##EQU3## where [A] to [F] are the number of moles of the hydrolyzable silicon compounds of the formulas (A) to (F), respectively, present in the reaction mixture, [I] is the number of moles of the colloidal silica present in the reaction mixture, and c, f, i, l, o and r are the same whole numbers as defined above for the formulas (A) to (F);
• and then subjecting them to cohydrolysis and polycondensation, and (e) curing the coating composition.