Control of space charge in polyethylene by chemical modification

This report describes the control of type and amount of space charge in polyethylene by chemical modification. The chemical modification was made by grafting polar chemicals such as acrylic acid, n-butyl acrylate and maleic anhydride on the polyethylene chains. Both maleic anhydride and acrylic acid decrease heterocharge in polyethylene and homocharge is observed at high graft ratio. On the other hand, n-butyl acrylate increases heterocharge in the polyethylene. Details of the results are described.