Abstract: A process for preparing nanoparticle coated surfaces including the steps of electrostatically coating surfaces with polyelectrolyte by exposing the surface to a solution or suspension of polyelectrolyte, removing excess non-bound polyelectrolyte, then further coating the particles with a multi-layer of charged nanoparticles by exposing the polyelectrolyte-coated surface to a fluid dispersion including the charged nanoparticles. The process steps can optionally be repeated thereby adding further layers of polyelectrolyte followed by nanoparticles as many times as desired to produce a second and subsequent layers. The polyelectrolyte has an opposite surface charge to the charged nanoparticles and a molecular weight at the ionic strength of the fluid that is effective so that the first, second, and subsequent layers independently comprise a multiplicity of nanoparticle layers that are thicker than monolayers.