AbstractView references

The investigation of the glass transition process and crystallization, along with the analysis of the crystallization kinetics, is conducted on chalcogenide As₄₀Se₃₀Te₃₀ glass with different concentrations of silver (0, 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, and 17 at.%). The differential scanning calorimetry technique is employed at different heating rates to examine these phenomena. It is demonstrated that the glass undergoes minimal structural changes during the glass transition process. Glass transition temperatures as well as apparent activation energies are determined. Measurements indicated that in certain examined compositions, thermally induced crystallization manifests as a complex process wherein multiple structural units crystallize. In compositions containing 3 and 7 at.% of Ag, two separate crystallization processes are observed. It was shown that the commonly used Johnson–Mehl–Avrami model does not describe crystallization processes of the investigated glass well enough. Additional analysis was conducted using the Sestak-Breggren kinetic model. The apparent activation energies were determined using Kissinger, Mahadevan, and Augis-Bennett models, falling within the range from 93 to 128 kJ mol⁻¹. To track changes in activation energy during the crystallization process itself, isoconversional models such as Vyzovkin, Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose, and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall were employed. It is observed that the introduction of silver contributes to the stabilization of the chalcogenide matrix. Concurrently, the activation energies exhibit a decreasing trend with minor fluctuations. The presence of a singular crystallization peak attributed to the AgAsSe₂ structural unit in samples containing over 9 at.% of Ag is a notable feature that holds promise for the further application of the investigated glass. © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2024.