Surface treating agent for plating and base material with the plating adhered thereto

A plated structure comprising:

• a substrate having a surface;
• a connecting layer having an inner bonding surface and an outer plating surface, said inner bonding surface being firmly bonded to said substrate surface, said connecting layer comprising a plurality of gold particles, said gold particles having a diameter less than 100 nm, and most of said gold particles in the plurality of gold particles having diameters in the range of 1 to 10 nm, the connecting layer also having a metal oxide present in an amount of 0.1 to 10 mol with respect to 1 mol of gold in the connecting layer;
• and
• a nickel film plated on said outer plating surface,
• wherein at least some of the plurality of gold particles at the outer plating surface are partially exposed thereby providing nuclei for the nickel film.

A plated structure comprising:

• a substrate having a surface;
• a connecting layer having an inner bonding surface and an outer plating surface,
• said layer inner bonding surface being firmly bonded to said substrate surface,
• there being in said connecting layer a dispersion of a plurality of individual separate metal particles selected from the group consisting of Au, Pt, Rh, Ag, and Ni, said metal particles having a diameter less than 100 nm, at least a portion of said metal particles are concentrated at said outer plating surface;
• and
• a metal film placed on said outer plating surface, said film being firmly secured through said connecting layer to said substrate surface,
• wherein at least some of the plurality of metal particles at the outer plating surface are partially exposed to provide nuclei for bonding of the metal film thereto.