The deposition of silica layers from the vapor phase hydrolysis of silicon tetrachloride will be discussed. These silica layers, which support the formation of organic monolayers formed from standard organosilane chemistries, can be deposited onto a wide variety of surfaces, including silicon, cellulose, zinc selenide, polystyrene, and poly (methyl methacrylate), offering the potential to drastically expand the types of materials that silane surface modification chemistry can be applied to. This talk will present an overview of our studies on this silica layer, including morphological and spectral characterization, dehydration and rehydration properties, interactions with water, and interactions with bacterial cells.