Thermogravimetric insights into decomposition and lifetime prediction in STSI glass-ceramics

This article investigates the thermal kinetics, degradation behavior, and lifetime prediction of Se78-xTe20Sn2Inx (0 ≤ x ≤ 6) chalcogenide alloys using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) over a temperature range of 300 °C–600 °C. Kinetic parameters were extracted using isothermal methods, including the Matusita-Sakka, Augis-Bennett, and Kissinger methods. By applying model-fitting approaches, we calculate the degradation energy (Ed) using the maximum degradation temperature (Td) extracted from the DTG plots. The degradation temperature shows a dependence consistent with the Lasocka relation. Iso-conversional methods were also employed, utilizing the model-free approaches. A newly discovered logistic decay function is introduced to model mass loss phenomena, enabling the extraction of kinetic parameters such as the decomposition rate constant (λd) and decomposition time (td). Compositions STSI-1 and STSI-3 exhibit prolonged lifetimes and thermal resilience, underscoring their potential for applications in non-volatile memory devices, photonic switches, and radiation shielding.