Glass transition and crystallization kinetics of a new chalcogenide-alkali metal $$\hbox {Se}₈₀\hbox {Te}₈(\hbox {NaCl})₁₂$$ Se 80 Te 8 ( NaCl ) 12 alloy

A new chalcogenide-alkali metal alloy of (hbox {Se}₈₀hbox {Te}₈(hbox {NaCl})₁₂) has been prepared by a melt-quench technique. The crystallized phases due to the thermal annealing are observed by X-ray diffraction of the powdered sample. The glass transition and kinetics of crystallization in the (hbox {Se}₈₀hbox {Te}₈(hbox {NaCl})₁₂) alloy are studied using the differential scanning calorimetric technique under non-isothermal conditions. The activation energy of the glass transition is evaluated by Kissinger and Mahadevan methods. The crystallization activation energy ((E_{mathrm{c}})) is calculated by isoconversion Friedman methods. The decrease of (E_{mathrm{c}}) with increasing crystallization conversion is attributed to the complex mechanism of the crystallization process. Based on the shape of the characteristic kinetic function, the crystallization growth is found to be a three-dimensional growth from the bulk nuclei. The results show that the conditions of the Sestak–Berggren model are satisfied for describing the crystallization process of the studied (hbox {Se}₈₀hbox {Te}₈(hbox {NaCl})₁₂) alloy. The parameters M and N involved in this model are calculated and related to the crystallization process.