Effects of Metallicity on Graphite, TiC, and SiC Condensation in Carbon Stars

Abstract

From transmission electron microscopy and other laboratory studies of presolar grains, the implicit condensation sequence of carbon-bearing condensates in circumstellar envelopes of carbon stars is (from first to last) TiC-graphite-SiC. We use thermochemical equilibrium condensation calculations and show that the condensation sequence of TiC, graphite, and SiC depends on metallicity in addition to C/O ratio and total pressure. Calculations were performed for a characteristic carbon star ratio of C/O = 1.2 from 1E-10 to 1E-4 bars total pressure and for uniform metallicity variations ranging from 0.01 to 100 times solar elemental abundances. TiC always condenses before SiC, and the carbide condensation temperatures increase with increasing metallicity and total pressure. Graphite, however, can condense in a cooling circumstellar envelope before TiC, between TiC and SiC, or after SiC, depending on the carbon-bearing gas chemistry, which is dependent on metallicity and total pressure. Analytical expressions for the graphite, TiC, and SiC condensation temperatures as functions of metallicity and total pressure are presented. The inferred sequence from laboratory presolar grain studies, TiC-graphite-SiC, is favored under equilibrium conditions at solar and subsolar metallicities between ~1E-5 to 1E-8 bar total pressure within circumstellar envelopes of carbon stars with nominal C/O = 1.2. We also explored the dependence of the sequence at C/O ratios of 1.1 and 3.0 and found that as the C/O ratio increases, the TiC-graphite-SiC region shifts towards higher total pressures and lower metallicities.

33 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal, March 2025

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