We are currently studying carbon based dust types of relevance for
carbon-rich AGB stars, to obtain a better understanding of the influence of the
optical and chemical properties of the grains on the mass loss of the star. An
investigation of the complex interplay between hydrodynamics,radiative transfer
and chemistry has to be based on a better knowledge of the micro-physics of the
relevant dust species.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Proceedings for IAU Colloquium 185 "Radial and
Nonradial Pulsations as Probes of Stellar Physics
