Determination of Trace Amounts of Nickel(II) with ${\alpha}-(2-Benzimidazolyl))-{\alpha}'{\alpha}$

A method is described for the fluorimetric determination of nickel, based on the formation of $Ni(II)-\alpha-(2-Benzimidazolyl)-\alpha'$, $\alpha''$ -(N-5-Nitro-2-Pyridylhydrazone)-toluene complex in the presence of a non-ionic surfactant. The complex has practically no fluorescence in the absence of surfactant, but the addition of Triton X-100 makes possible the fluorimetric determination of low concentrations of Ni(II) as it enhances the fluorescenceintensity of the complex by up to about 5-fold. This method is very sensitive and selectrive for the direct determination of nickel ion. The optimum conditions are a Triton X-100 concentration of 2.0 mL(5.0%, v/v) and pH $9.0\pm0.2(ammonium$ chloride-ammonia buffer). The fluorescence is measured at 337 nm of emission wavelength under 300 nm of excitation wavelength. The fluorescence intensity is a linear function of the concentration of Ni(II) in the range 5-70 ng/mL, and the detection limit is 2.0 nm/mL. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of trace amounts of Ni(II) in food and human hair samples.