Europium

Europium • Lanthanide Rare Earth

Primary XPS region: Eu3d, Eu4d
Overlapping regions:
Binding energies of common chemical states:

Chemical state	Binding energy Eu3d_5/2
Eu metal	~1126 eV
Eu(III) oxide	1135 eV

Oxide charge referenced to adventitious C1s peak at 284.8eV.

Experimental information

N/A

Interpretation of XPS spectra

Eu3d and Eu4d regions exhibit complex multiplet splitting for Eu(III) compounds [1].
- Shake-down satellite structure.
- Not straightforward to peak fit.

References

[1] F. Mercier et al. / Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena 150 (2005) 21-26.

About this element

Symbol: Eu
Date of discovery: 1901
Name origin: Europe
Appearance: silver
Discoverer: Eugene Demarcay
Obtained from: man-made

Melting point: 1095 K
Boiling point: 1870 K
Density[kg/m³]: 5244
Molar volume: 28.97 × 10^-6 m³/mol
Protons/Electrons: 63
Neutrons: 89
Shell structure: 2,8,18,25,8,2
Electron configuration: [Xe]6s24f7
Oxidation state: 3
Crystal structure: cubic body centered

Suspecting the element samarium was contaminated with an unknown element, E. Antole, a French chemist, discovered europium in 1896. Europium is known for being the most reactive of the rare earth elements. This element is about as hard as lead and quite ductile. Europium has been used to dope plastics to make lasers, but there are no widely-used commercial applications for the element. Due to its ability to absorb neutrons, europium oxide is widely used as a red phosphor in television sets and as an activator for yttrium-based phosphors. The element is also used as an agent to manufacture fluorescent glass.