Enhanced antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and photocatalytic properties of α-tocopherol-coated copper oxide nanoparticles: synthesis, characterisation, and multifunctional applications

This study reports the synthesis and characterisation of alpha-tocopherol-coated copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO@alpha-tocopherol NPs) using a coprecipitation method. Characterisation techniques confirmed successful functionalisation, with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis identifying functional groups from both CuO and alpha-tocopherol, and X-ray diffraction data showing preserved CuO crystallinity with some amorphous content from the coating. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a larger average particle size for coated NPs (82.049 nm) compared to uncoated CuO (69.444 nm), while energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy confirmed alpha-tocopherol incorporation by detecting carbon in addition to copper and oxygen. Functional assays indicated that CuO@alpha-tocopherol NPs exhibited superior superoxide (97.28%) and hydrogen peroxide (96.57%) scavenging activity at 80 mu g/ml, as well as high anti-inflammatory potential (97.18% at 90 mu g/ml), outperforming uncoated CuO in each test. In the photocatalytic degradation of 4-bromophenol, CuO@alpha-tocopherol NPs demonstrated an improved rate constant (0.06051 min-1) over uncoated CuO (0.05863 min-1), with degradation kinetics following a pseudo-first-order model. These findings suggest that alpha-tocopherol coating enhances the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and photocatalytic properties of CuO NPs, making CuO@alpha-tocopherol NPs a promising multifunctional material for environmental and biomedical applications.