Systematic Study of the Effect of Incorporation of Carbon Nanotubes into Ge$_{\mathrm{\mathbf{x}}}$ Se$_{\mathrm{\mathbf{1-x}}}$ Glass System f1

We successfully synthesized Ge$_{\mathrm{x}}$Se$_{\mathrm{1-x}}$ (x $=$ 0.225) glass samples and doped the samples with commercially produced (Protein Mods) carbon nanotubes (CNTs). We investigated the glass transition temperature (T$_{\mathrm{g}})$ using Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry (MDSC). The glass samples without the CNTs have a a T$_{\mathrm{g}}$ of \textasciitilde 220\textdegree C and the T$_{\mathrm{g}}$ was found to be independent of starting materials from different suppliers as well as water-bath temperature (Fig. 1). CNTs, being a very hygroscopic material as well as oxygen absorbing material, needed to be cleaned under vacuum with the hot water-bath. We found that the T$_{\mathrm{g}}$ decreases when 5{\%} and 10 {\%} CNTs by mass is added to the glass samples as compared to the base Ge$_{\mathrm{x}}$Se$_{\mathrm{1-x}}$ glass. The decrease in T$_{\mathrm{g}}$ indicates the occurrence of an intermediate phase (reduced-stress glass phase) at lower temperature, which could be potentially useful in material science applications.