The crystallization kinetic studies of the Sn5Ge10Se85-xPbx (2.5≤x≤20 at. %) chalcogenide glasses

Abstract

The topic of this article concerns the studies of the thermal analysis characterization of the Sn5Ge10Se85-xPbx (2.5≤x≤20 at. %) chalcogenide glass using the differential thermal analysis (DTA) technique. Most of the extracted kinetic parameters in this article focus on the Sn5Ge10Se82.5Pb2.5 glass. The obtained DTA thermograms emphasized one endothermic peak characterizing the glass transition process, one exothermic peak characterizing the crystallization process, and lastly, one endothermic peak characterizing the melting of the considered glass. The obtained transformation data of the mentioned glasses are analyzed using the methods of Lasocka and those based on the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) formal theory of transformation after modification. Kissinger, Augis, and Bennett (AB), Matusita-Komatsu-Yokota (MKY), and Gao-Wang (GW) methods, in particular. Most of the deduced values of the activation energy of crystallization extracted from the used analytical methods are nearly equal. The crystalline phases of the annealed glass were detected using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. Applying the GW method, it can be emphasized that, the concerned glass is crystallized in two dimensions by surface crystallization. Besides, some of the physical parameters for the considered glass have been calculated, which can be used to ascertain the obtained experimental data. In this context, the average coordination number (Z), the deviation of stoichiometry (r), the fraction of floppy (f), and the overall mean bond energy (˂E˃) have been calculated.