The invention relates to a bistriazene compound, in particular to 4, 4'-bis[5, 6-dichloro-2-benzothiazolylazo-amino]biphenyl-3, 3'-disulfonic acid and a preparation method and application thereof. The invention solves the problem existing in the prior art that a reagent for detecting heavy metal ions has nonideal sensitivity. The molecular structural formula of the 4, 4'-bis[5, 6-dichloro-2-benzothiazolylazo-amino]biphenyl-3, 3'-disulfonic acid is shown as follows. The 4, 4'-bis[5, 6-dichloro-2-benzothiazolylazo-amino]biphenyl-3, 3'-disulfonic acid is used for the detection of the heavy metal ions, has the advantages of good selectivity, high sensitivity, and steady performance, can be used for fluorescence detection of Ni (II) in alkaline medium in the presence of a triton surfactant, and can also be used as a visualization reagent for photometric analysis.