A multigrain-multilayer astrochemical model with variable desorption energy for surface species

TL;DR

This study introduces a multigrain-multilayer astrochemical model that incorporates variable desorption energies for surface species, revealing how environment-dependent binding energies influence ice composition and chemical processes in interstellar space.

Contribution

It presents a novel astrochemical model that explicitly accounts for variable desorption energies based on surface properties, improving understanding of ice formation and composition.

Findings

Chemical desorption delays ice buildup on bare grains.

Non-polar ices enhance production of CO2 and other molecules.

Binding energy-dependent mechanisms explain consistent ice compositions.

Abstract

Context. Interstellar surface chemistry is a complex process that occurs in icy layers accumulated onto grains of different sizes. Efficiency of surface processes often depends on the immediate environment of adsorbed molecules. Aims. We investigate how gas-grain chemistry changes when surface molecule desorption is made explicitly dependent to the molecular binding energy, which is modified, depending on the properties of the surface. Methods. Molecular binding energy changes gradually for three different environments - bare grain, where polar, water-dominated ices and non-polar, carbon monoxide-dominated ices. In addition to diffusion, evaporation and chemical desorption, photodesorption was also made binding energy-dependent, in line with experimental results. These phenomena occur in a collapsing prestellar core model that considers five grain sizes with ices arranged into four layers. Results. Efficient chemical desorption from bare grains significantly delays ice accumulation. Easier surface diffusion of molecules on non-polar ices promotes the production of carbon dioxide and other species. Conclusions. The composition of interstellar ices is regulated by several binding-energy dependent desorption mechanisms. Their actions overlap in time and space, which explains the ubiquitous proportions of major ice components (water and carbon oxides), observed to be similar in all directions.