In this experimental study, a novel bionanocomposite of gelatin as a polypeptide hydrogel consisting of copper (II) oxide nanomaterial (GL–CuO) was prepared. After dispersing the synthesized CuO nanoparticles (NPs) within the GL aqueous solution, they were cross-linked by the addition of a formaldehyde solution. The resulting GL–CuO nanocomposite hydrogels were further characterized by FESEM, EDX, XRD, XPS, and FTIR. The FESEM micrographs confirmed the uniform distribution of CuO NPs in the hydrogel matrix, with dimensions ranging from 60 to 80 nm. The XRD patterns confirmed the presence of the monoclinic crystalline form of CuO NPs embedded in the GL hydrogel. The GL–CuO catalyst was tested in the reduction of two azo dyes. All the reactions were carried out in the presence of a strong reducing agent, NaBH₄, with the catalyst demonstrating high activities toward methyl orange and congo red with reaction rate constants of 9.91 × 10⁻¹ min⁻¹ and 5.8 × 10⁻¹ min⁻¹, respectively. The reduction of these dyes was followed by UV–visible spectroscopy that confirmed complete reduction of the dye.

在本实验研究中，制备了一种新型明胶生物纳米复合材料，它是由氧化铜（II）纳米材料（GL-CuO）组成的多肽水凝胶。将合成的CuO纳米颗粒（NPs）分散在GL水溶液中后，通过添加甲醛溶液使它们交联。所得的GL-CuO纳米复合水凝胶通过FESEM，EDX，XRD，XPS和FTIR进一步表征。FESEM显微照片证实了CuO NP在水凝胶基质中的均匀分布，尺寸范围为60至80 nm。XRD图谱证实了嵌入GL水凝胶中的CuO NPs的单斜晶体形式的存在。GL-CuO催化剂在两种偶氮染料的还原反应中进行了测试。所有反应均在强还原剂NaBH ₄存在下进行，该催化剂表现出对甲基橙和刚果红的高活性，反应速率常数分别为9.91×10 ^-1  min ^-1和5.8×10 ^-1  min ^-1。在还原这些染料之后，通过紫外可见光谱确认了染料的完全还原。