Objective: The color reaction of xylenol orange with aluminum was studied to establish a new quantitative analysis method for aluminum in borax by spectrophotometric method. Method: Aluminum could react with XO to form a stable amaranth complex in HAc-NaAc buffer solution at pH 3.0 in the presence of surfactant Tween 20. The absorption was detected at 550 nm

and aluminum content was calculated. Result: A good linear relationship was obtained between the absorbance and concentration of Al in the range of 0.3-0.13 mg ·L-1 with the correlation coefficient of 0.998 4

the relative standard deviation(RSD) of the repeat test was 0.83%;the average recovery rate was 98.83% with RSD of 2.31%

the detection limit was 0.032 mg ·L-1. Conclusion: This method is simple

convenient

quick

and has stable color reaction

so it can be used for the quantitative analysis of aluminum in borax.