Synthesis of Metal Telluride Nanomaterials and Their Application in Catalysis

Cu2Te nanoparticles were prepared by solvothermal method by using the copper (II) acetate and tellurium powder as precursor in a single-step process. A mixture of oleic acid and olylamine (1:1) was used to synthesize the copper tellurides nanoparticles in order to maintain definite shape-size properties. The as-obtained product was comprehensively characterized utilizing a variety of techniques, including energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), etc. Structural analysis reveals that atomic composition of the copper tellurides nanoparticles was found to be in Cu2Te. The shape of the copper tellurides nanoparticles was found to be spherical particles. Cu2Te nanoparticles have shown to catalyzed/neutralize free radical produced by copper and its related reaction and shown excellent protective effect against copper-induced oxidative damage to protein (BSA) and able to protect the protein. The Cu2Te nanoparticles were found to neutralize the copper-induced free radical and inhibited the protein carbonyl formation by 17.39, 44.08, 60.33, 77.96, and 85.63% by using 10, 20, 30, 50, and 100 ng/µL.