The present research is a comparative study that reports an economical and accessible method to synthesize niobium (Nb) and Tantalum (Ta) selenides and tellurides with useful application in the removal of pollutants in textile, paper, and dyeing industries as well as in medical field. In this study, solid-state process was used to generate nanocomposites and various characterization techniques were employed to compare two groups of materials under investigation. Structure, morphology, elemental constitution, and functional groups of synthesized materials were analyzed with XRD, FESEM coupled with EDS, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. HR-TEM images displayed nanoscale particles with tetragonal and monoclinic crystal structures. The optical properties were evaluated in terms of cut-off wavelength and optical band gap using UV-visible spectroscopy. A comparative behavior of both groups of compounds was assessed with regards to their catalytic and microcidal properties. Extracted nanocomposites when used as catalysts, though isomorphs of each other, showed markedly different behavior in catalytic degradation of MB dye in the presence of NaBH₄ that was employed as a reducing agent. This peculiar deviation might be attributed to slight structural differences between them. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (G –ve and + ve bacteria, respectively) were designated as model strains for in vitro antibacterial tests of both clusters by employing disk diffusion method. Superior antibacterial efficacy was observed for telluride system (significant inhibition zones of 26-35 mm) compared with selenide system (diameter of inhibition zone ranged from 0.8 mm to 1.9 mm). In addition, molecular docking study was undertaken to ascertain the binding interaction pattern between NPs and active sites in targeted cell protein. The findings were in agreement with antimicrobial test results suggesting NbTe₄ to be the best inhibitor against FabH and FabI enzymes.

本研究是一项比较研究，报告了一种经济可行的合成铌（Nb）和钽（Ta）硒化物和碲化物的方法，在去除纺织，造纸和印染行业以及医学领域的污染物方面具有实用性。 。在这项研究中，固态过程被用来生成纳米复合材料，各种表征技术被用来比较两组正在研究的材料。用XRD，FESEM，EDS，FTIR和拉曼光谱分别分析了合成材料的结构，形态，元素组成和官能团。HR-TEM图像显示具有四方和单斜晶体结构的纳米级颗粒。使用紫外-可见光谱法根据截止波长和光学带隙评估光学性质。评估了两组化合物的催化和杀微生物特性。提取的纳米复合材料用作催化剂时，虽然彼此同形，但在NaBH存在下催化降解MB染料时表现出明显不同的行为₄被用作还原剂。这种特殊的偏差可能归因于它们之间的细微结构差异。通过圆盘扩散法，将大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌（分别为G –ve和+ ve细菌）指定为用于两个簇的体外抗菌测试的模型菌株。与硒化物系统（抑制区的直径范围从0.8 mm到1.9 mm）相比，碲化物系统（26-35 mm的显着抑制区）具有优异的抗菌效果。另外，进行了分子对接研究以确定NP与靶细胞蛋白中活性位点之间的结合相互作用模式。这些发现与表明NbTe _4的抗菌测试结果一致 是对FabH和FabI酶的最佳抑制剂。