Study on the colour reaction of Te-KI-RhB system in the presence of PVA-OP

A new supersensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of tellurium (IV) has been developed which is based on the formation of an ion-association complex with potassium iodide and rhodamine B (RhB) in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyethylene glycol octyl phenyl ether (OP). The molar absorptivity at 560 nm is 2.8 × 10⁶ 1 mol^–1 cm^–1. Beer's law is obeyed over the range of 20–70 ng/ml Te. The method has been applied successfully to determine tellurium in alloy, steel and some other samples.