The invention provides a refining method of 3, 3 ', 4, 4'-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid, which comprises the following steps: mixing a 3, 3 ', 4, 4'-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid crude product,
acetic acid, a
ketone solvent and water at 90-100 DEG C to obtain a biphenyltetracarboxylic acid crude product solution; and mixing the crude biphenyltetracarboxylic acid solution with the
seed crystal at 80-90 DEG C, and then carrying out cooling
crystallization to obtain a 3, 3 ', 4, 4'-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid refined product. The invention provides a refining method of 3, 3 ', 4, 4'-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid, which has the following advantages: (1) the total
metal ions of the product are low and the purity is high,
acetic acid is used as an
ion exchanger in the refining method, the
metal ion removal effect and the product purity can be effectively improved, and the total
metal ions can be reduced to 0.2 ppm or below; (2) the yield and the whiteness of the product are high, and the whiteness can be increased to 98% or above; and (3) the refining method is simple and convenient in process.