How the carbon nanotubes affect the glass transition kinetics and thermal stability of Cu–Se–Te–In chalcogenide glasses

Carbon nanotube-added Cu5Se75Te10In10 glassy composites have been successfully developed by the melt quench mechanism. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study confirms the incorporation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and the composition of the composite. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been effectively used to study the glass transition kinetics of MWCNT-added multicomponent Cu5Se75Te10In10 chalcogenide glassy composite under nonisothermal condition. The investigated value of glass transition temperature increases with a rise in CNT concentration at different heating rates (5, 10, 15 and 20 K min−1). It has been explained on the basis of a greater degree of efficient carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-mediated cross-linking through the glassy matrix. Kissinger’s and Moynihan’s relations were used to determine the activation energy of the glass transition mechanism as a function of glass transition temperature Tg at different heating rates and also with MWCNT concentrations. Thermal characteristics of MWCNT/Cu5Se75Te10In10 were studied using different quantitative methods such as Dietzel relation, Hurby’s parameter, Lie and Liu parameters, etc.