Effects of Pb on Thermal Stability and Crystallization Kinetics of GeS2–Sb2S3–PbS Glasses

Effects of Pb on thermal stability and crystallization kinetics of chalcogenide glasses (1− x )(0.85GeS 2 −0.15Sb 2 S 3 )− x PbS ( x = 0–0.4) have been carried out by a detailed calorimetric study and structural analysis. The glass stability was assessed based on three criteria, while the activation energies of crystallization were calculated under nonisothermal crystallization conditions by the Kissinger method, the Augis/Bennett method, the Mahadevan method, and the modified Ozawa method, respectively. Both stability criteria and activation energies of crystallization suggest that the glasses possess excellent thermal stability. The thermal stability decreases with addition of PbS but is insensitive to the content of PbS in the range from x = 0.1 to 0.4. Raman, XRD, and molar volume structural characterization suggested that the excellent thermal stability of these glasses is due to the glass former role of PbS. The calculated Avrami exponent pointing to a 3-dimensional crystallization mechanism which explains the reason for the previously reported successful preparation of infrared transmitting chalcogenide glass-ceramics.