The aim of this work was to characterize silane layers on the modified stainless steel surfaces and relate it to the adhesion in the injection-molded thermoplastic urethane-stainless steel hybrids. The silane layers were characterized with scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope, allowing the direct quantization of silane layer thickness and its variation. The surface topographies were characterized with atomic force microscope and chemical analyses were performed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The mechanical strength of the respective stainless steel-thermoplastic urethane hybrids was determined by peel test. Polishing and oxidation treatment of the steel surface improved the silane layer uniformity compared to the industrially pickled surface and increased the adhesion strength of the hybrids, resulting mainly cohesive failure in TPU. XPS analysis indicated that the improved silane bonding to the modified steel surface was due to clean Fe2O3-type surface oxide and stronger interaction with TPU was due to more amino species on the silane layer surface compared to the cleaned, industrially pickled surface. Silane layer thickness affected failure type of the hybrids, with a thick silane layer the hybrids failed mainly in the silane layer and with a thinner layer cohesively in plastic. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.