Metal salts of maleimide compounds as conductivity promoters

1 . A conductive composition comprising a resin, a conductive filler, and a metal salt of a maleimide acid.

2 . The conductive composition according to claim 1 in which the metal salt of a maleimide is formed by

(i) reacting a molar equivalent of maleic anhydride with a molar equivalent of an amino acid to form an amic acid,

(ii) dehydrating the amic acid to form a maleimide acid, and

(iii) converting the maleimide acid to its metal salt.

3 . The conductive resin composition according to claim 2 in which the amino acid is selected from the group consisting of glycine, alanine, 2-aminoisobutyric acid, valine, tert-leucine, norvaline, 2-amino-4-pentenoic acid, isoleucine, leucine, norleucine, beta-alanine, 5-aminovaleric acid, 6-aminocaproic acid, 7-amino-heptanoic acid, 8-aminocaprylic acid, 11-amino-undecanoic acid, 12-amino-dodecanoic acid, 2-phenylglycine, 2,2′-diphenylglycine, phenylalanine, alpha-methyl-DL-phenylalanine, and homophenylalanine.

4 . The conductive composition according to claim 2 in which the metal salt of a maleimide is derived from the salts of the metal elements selected from the group consisting of lithium (Li), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), scandium (Sc), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), silver (Ag), gold (Au), mercury (Hg), aluminum (Al), and tin (Sn).

5 . The conductive composition according to claim 1 in which the maleimide metal salt will be present in the resin composition at a loading of 0.05% to 10% by weight of the composition.

6 . The conductive composition according to claim 1 in which the resin is selected from the group consisting of phenolics, epoxies, acrylates, maleimides, polyimides, polyurethanes, vinyl chlorides, vinyl acetates, polyesters, silicones, benzoxazines, oxetane, thio-ene, oxazolines, nitrones, vinyl ethers, styrenics, and cinnamics.