The analysis of the interface between grains and pores in thin films of CeO2, prepared by two different sol-gel procedures, was performed using grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering. The existence and the average thickness of an interfacial layer, formed during one of the preparation procedures, were examined by analyzing the depletion of scattering intensity in the Porod's scattering region. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.