Umeå University's logo

Neutron reflectivity (NR) was used to study the sorption of Eu(III) by graphene oxide (GO) films exposed to ethanol solution of EuCl₃. Most of the earlier sorption studies have been performed using GO dispersed in solution. In contrast, layered structure of GO films imposes limitations for penetration of ions between individual sheets. The analysis of NR data recorded before and after sorption under vacuum demonstrates an increase of GO film thickness due to sorption by 35–40%. The characterization of chemical state of Eu(III) sorbed by GO films by X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) in high-energy resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD) method at the Eu L₃ edge reveals that it remains the same as in anhydrous EuCl₃. Analysis of all collected data including reference experiments with bulk GO samples allows to conclude that EuCl₃ penetrates into GO interlayers with ethanol solution and remains trapped in interlayers after evaporation of ethanol. Sorption of EuCl₃ results in nearly complete amorphization of film and likely formation of voids, thus making NR models based on specific volume of unit cell not valid for quantitative evaluation of Eu sorption. Limitations of NR method must be taken into account in future studies of sorption by thin films.