Thermal stability and thermomechanical characteristics of Cu–As–S–Se glasses

Abstract Thermal analysis and X-ray powder diffraction at different temperatures were employed to characterize the thermal stability of the Cu–As–S–Se bulk glasses. Differential thermal analysis was employed to determine the temperature of softening and partial crystallization of samples. Thermal treatment of the samples to 1273 K and recording of the corresponding thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric curves allowed elucidation of the overall mechanism of their decomposition. The method of high-temperature X-ray diffraction enabled identification of the crystalline form appearing in particular phases of thermal treatment of the materials. The coefficients of linear thermal expansion in solid and melt phases were determined by the methods of thermomechanical analysis and the dependence of this parameter on copper concentration was established.