Extended glass-forming region in the AgCl-Ag2S-As2S3 ternary system

In the present work, glass formation property of the AgCl-Ag2S-As2S3 ternary system is investigated. An extended glass-forming region rich in the AgCl content (up to 80 mol.%) is observed. It is also found that there exists a small devitrification domain dividing the whole glass-forming region into two parts. XRD analyses confirm that the precipitated crystals in the crystallized samples are pure AgCl, or Xanthoconite and Proustite Ag3AsS3, depending on the Ag2S/As2S3 ratio and the AgCl content. Structural evolutions of the selected samples 15AgCl-yAg(2)S-zAs(2)S(3) are examined by high-resolution XPS, and Raman spectroscopy. The crystallization mechanisms are studied comprehensively by SEM, DSC, and XRD measurements, and tentatively assigned to the presence of phase separation. The results reported in this article are expected to serve as a guide for the selection of suitable electrode materials for electrochemical applications.