Abstract: | Abstract Hafnium(IV) reacts with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol in the pH range 3.3–11.0 to yield a sparingly soluble red-coloured chelate that can be dissolved with Triton X-100. Effect of initial pH of metal ion and order of addition of reagents was studied in detail. The 1:3 complex adheres to Beer's law over the concentration range 0.02–1.12 μg/ml of Hf(IV), has a molar absorptivity 1.33x105 1 mol?1cm?1, Sandell sensitivity 1.3 ng cm?2, formation constant (log K) 11.94 and the method had a relative standard deviation of ± 1.5%. Effect of 60 diverse ions on the determination of hafnium(IV) was studied. This fairly selective method is the most sensitive so far reported for the spectrophotometric determination of hafnium(IV). |