Though fullerene has been regarded as an effective radical scavenger, the hydrophobicity strongly limits its application in biological fields. Herein, we proposed a simple photoreduction method in preparing a highly water-soluble nanocomposite consisting of ultrasmall copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) and hydroxylated fullerene (fullerenol), which showed excellent radical scavenging performance compared with traditional antioxidants. The superb antioxidative behavior was believed to be due to the synergetic effect induced by the stable decoration of CuNPs onto the surface of fullerenol, while the low metal loading level would decrease the potential toxicity of the prepared composite. Our work will offer an alternative choice for efficient antioxidative agents with more biosafety.

中文翻译：

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通过光化学还原形成的水溶性铜纳米颗粒@富勒烯醇复合物的抗氧化性能提高

尽管富勒烯被认为是一种有效的自由基清除剂，但其疏水性严重限制了其在生物领域的应用。在此，我们提出了一种简单的光还原方法来制备由超小铜纳米粒子 (CuNPs) 和羟基化富勒烯 (富勒烯醇) 组成的高水溶性纳米复合材料，与传统抗氧化剂相比，该复合材料显示出优异的自由基清除性能。优异的抗氧化行为被认为是由于CuNPs在富勒烯表面上的稳定装饰所引起的协同效应，而低金属负载水平会降低所制备复合材料的潜在毒性。我们的工作将为具有更高生物安全性的高效抗氧化剂提供替代选择。