The present invention provides a plastic article containing a first polymer and an interpenetrating network or blend of a second polymer infused in a surface layer of the first polymer, wherein the second polymer is the product of photopolymerizing, in a de-oxygenated environment, a reactive monomer in the presence of one or more radical photoinitiators. The present invention also provides a process for the infusion of a surface layer polymer interpenetrating network (“IPN”) or interpenetrating blend (“IPB”) into plastic articles. By inclusion of a second polymer within the pre-existing first polymer, surface modification of the physical and chemical properties of the host polymer may be enhanced.