Bare Zinc Oxide Research Articles

Mitigating interfacial recombination enabling efficient semitransparent organic photovoltaics

Charge recombination at the interface between top electrode and active layer is a substantial current loss pathway in semitransparent organic photovoltaics (STOPVs). Reducing interfacial traps is an effective strategy to mitigate interfacial recombination and promote charge extraction, and thereby improve the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Herein, a facile approach of depositing 11-mercapto-undecanoic acid (11-MUA) on zinc oxide (ZnO) cathode interlayer in conventional STOPVs is demonstrated. 11-MUA can form covalent interactions with both ZnO and silver (Ag) and thus can induce the formation of high-quality ultrathin Ag electrode. Compared with that deposited on bare ZnO, the Ag electrode on ZnO/11-MUA shows higher conductivity as well as higher optical transparency. The STOPVs based on ZnO/11-MUA/Ag exhibit 2 orders of magnitude lower surface trap density than the counterparts based on ZnO/Ag. Consequently, 11-MUA simultaneously improves the PCEs from 11.2% to 12.1% and average visible transmittance from 21.6% to 27.0% in the STOPVs. Furthermore, arising from the 11-MUA-modified interface, the thermal stability of STOPVs based on ZnO/11-MUA/Ag is also improved.

Confluence of ZnO and PTFE Binder for Enhancing Performance of Thin‐Film Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Developing anode materials with high specific capacity and cycling stability is vital for improving thin‐film lithium‐ion batteries. Thin‐film zinc oxide (ZnO) holds promise due to its high specific capacity, but it suffers from volume changes and structural stress during cycling, leading to poor battery performance. In this research, we ingeniously combined polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with ZnO using a radio frequency (RF) magnetron co‐sputtering method, ensuring a strong bond in the thin‐film composite electrode. PTFE effectively reduced stress on the active material and mitigated volume change effects during Li+ ion intercalation and deintercalation. The composite thin films are thoroughly characterized using advanced techniques such as X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy for investigating correlations between material properties and electrochemical behaviors. Notably, the ZnO/PTFE thin‐film electrode demonstrated an impressive specific capacity of 1305 mAh g−1 (=7116 mAh cm−3) at a 0.5C rate and a remarkable capacity retention of 82% from the 1st to the 100th cycle, surpassing the bare ZnO thin film (50%). This study provides valuable insights into using binders to stabilize active materials in thin‐film batteries, enhancing battery performance.

Multiarmed Aromatic Ammonium Salts Boost the Efficiency and Stability of Inverted Organic Solar Cells.

Inverted organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted much attention because of their outstanding stability, with zinc oxide (ZnO) being commonly used as the electron transport layer (ETL). However, both surface defects and the photocatalytic effect of ZnO could lead to serious photodegradation of acceptor materials. This, in turn, hampers the improvement of the efficiency and stability in OSCs. Herein, we developed a multiarmed aromatic ammonium salt, namely, benzene-1,3,5-triyltrimethanaminium bromide (PhTMABr), for modifying ZnO. This compound possesses mild weak acidity aimed at removing the residual amines present within ZnO film. In addition, the PhTMABr could also passivate surface defects of ZnO through multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions between its terminal amino groups and the oxygen anion of ZnO, leading to a better interface contact, which effectively enhances charge transport. As a result, an efficiency of 18.75% was achieved based on the modified ETL compared to the bare ZnO (PCE = 17.34%). The devices utilizing the modified ZnO retained 87% and 90% of their initial PCE after thermal stress aging at 65 °C for 1500 h and continuous 1-sun illumination with maximum power point (MPP) tracking for 1780 h, respectively. Importantly, the extrapolated T80 lifetime with MPP tracking exceeds 10 000 h. The new class of materials employed in this work to modify the ZnO ETL should pave the way for enhancing the efficiency and stability of OSCs, potentially advancing their commercialization process.

Photocatalytic evaluation of disperse purple dye using Polyvinylpyrrolidone capped bare and Cu+2/Fe+3 codoped ZnO nano catalysts

Polyvinylpyrrolidone capped bare zinc oxide and codoped with cupric and ferric ions, have been fabricated by a facile polyol reduction method with ethylene glycol. The as-fabricated nanoparticles were calcinated to control their size and morphology. The fabricated nanoparticles were characterized using various techniques including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersion X-rays, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared Spectroscopy. The results showed phase pure nanoparticles with wurtzite zinc oxide structure, and a blue shift in absorbance spectrum when zinc oxide was codoped with cupric and ferric ions.The study examined the degradation rate of disperse purple dye using bare and codoped zinc oxide nanoparticles in the solar region. Codoped nanocatalysts showed superior efficiency compared to bare zinc oxide. The kinetic analysis of the dye was conducted, revealing that the degradation of the dye followed a pseudo-first-order kinetics pattern. Furthermore, about 99 % degradation of the dye solution in 110 min by codoped zinc oxide as compared to bare zinc oxide (84 %) under solar light suggests Cu+2/Fe+3 codoped zinc oxide is an emerging tool for environmental remediation.

Investigating the effect of ZrO2 nanofibers in ZnO-based photoanodes to increase dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) efficiency: Inspecting the porosity and charge transfer properties in ZnO/ZrO2 nanocomposite photoanode

This study is aimed to improve the performance of zinc oxide (ZnO) photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by exploiting the superior charge transport properties in electro-spun zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) nanofibers in ZnO/ZrO2 nanocomposite photoanodes. The fabricated photoanodes were analyzed by a variety of analyses. The XRD results show that photoanodes are a mixture of two different phases of ZnO and ZrO2 without any additional impurity phase. FESEM images and BET analysis show changes in porosity and effective surface area in the synthesized photoanodes. UV–Vis analysis confirms this conclusion by measuring adsorbed dye molecules on the photoanode surface. In addition, using the photoanodes, DSSCs are prepared for which J-V characterization results show an increase in efficiency from 1.68 to 3.31 %. The addition of ZrO2 nanofiber to the ZnO network increases the porosity and effective surface area and makes it possible to control the dye-loading as well as electrolyte species transport. Furthermore, the results of EIS analysis show that the charge transport in the ZnO/ZrO2 network is carried out more efficiently compared to the bare ZnO photoanode. Although, increasing ZrO2 nanofibers to a certain level can help improve the efficiency, it tends to reduce the efficiency with ZrO2/ZnO ratios of over 10 %.

Solar Photocatalytic Activity of Ba-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles: The Role of Surface Hydrophilicity.

Bare zinc oxide (ZnO) and Ba-doped ZnO (BZO) samples were prepared by using a simple precipitation method. The effects of Barium doping on the structural, morphological, and optoelectronic properties, as well as on the physico-chemical features of the surface were investigated and correlated with the observed photocatalytic activity under natural solar irradiation. The incorporation of Ba2+ ions into the ZnO structure increased the surface area by ca. 14 times and enhanced the hydrophilicity with respect to the bare sample, as demonstrated by infrared spectroscopy and contact angle measurements. The surface hydrophilicity was correlated with the enhanced defectivity of the doped sample, as indicated by X-ray diffraction, Raman, and fluorescence spectroscopies. The resulting higher affinity with water was, for the first time, invoked as an important factor justifying the superior photocatalytic performance of BZO compared to the undoped one, in addition to the slightly higher separation of the photoproduced pairs, an effect that has already been reported in literature. In particular, observed kinetic constants values of 8∙10-3 and 11.3∙10-3 min-1 were determined for the ZnO and BZO samples, respectively, by assuming first order kinetics. Importantly, Ba doping suppressed photocorrosion and increased the stability of the BZO sample under irradiation, making it a promising photocatalyst for the abatement of toxic species.

Pulsed laser-induced dewetting to fabricate Au-Pd nanoparticles supported on ZnO films and its application for the photocatalytic degradation of indigo carmine

Gold-palladium (Au-Pd) bimetallic alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were obtained by the interaction of a laser pulse with a stack of Au and Pd thin films, these films were previously and sequentially deposited on a zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films grown on a glass substrate. This method can produce, with a single laser pulse, spherical NPs of different compositions which remain attached to the surface of the ZnO film. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the NPs are composed of a solid solution of the metals whose relative content was modified by varying the deposition time of the starting metal films. The higher amount of Pd in the NPs, the smaller particle size being the minimum around 50 nm. To demonstrate the usefulness of this method to produce Au-Pd NPs directly on surfaces, the decorated ZnO layers were tested as photocatalysts material for the decomposition of indigo carmine dye. The bimetallic NPs supported on ZnO showed to have a better photocatalytic performance to decompose the dye than their mono-metallic counterpart and bare ZnO thin film. The bimetallic NPs richer in Pd achieved a degradation of 99% of the dye while bare ZnO film reached just 32%.

A high-performance Calix@ZnO based bifunctional nanomaterial for selective detection and degradation of toxic azinphos methyl in environmental samples

One of the key tenets of sustainable agriculture and food safety is the removal of toxic pesticides from the environment. However, developing reliable, affordable, and efficient methods for detecting and degrading pesticides into non-toxic degradable products remains an immediate matter of concern. Herein, we attempt to develop a strategy for the detection as well as degradation of highly toxic phosphorodithioate pesticide, Azinphos methyl (AZM), using hybrid zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). Considering the non-selectivity of bare ZnO and receptor R1, we have fabricated the heterocalixarene-based Calix (R1) over zinc oxide (ZnO) surface in situ via the sol-gel process. The synthesized heterocaliaxrene-modified ZnO (R1@ZnO) NPs show an excellent affinity for the selective and sensitive detection of AZM with a tremendously low limit of detection (68 mg L−1) and no interference from other pesticides. Degradation of AZM was fully supported by fluorescence spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 1H NMR titrations, FTIR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and mass spectroscopy, which unequivocally confirmed the formation of non-toxic products. According to our findings, R1@ZnO NPs are sustainable nanomaterials that can be employed for environmental remediation since they operate in an aqueous medium.

High-Performance, non-Enzymatic Glucose Sensor Based on Fe and Cu Doped ZnO/rGO Based Nanocomposite

In the present work, the fabrication and performance of glucose sensor based on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) and their composite is demonstrated. ZnO nanostructures possess fascinating properties like large surface area, superior crystal nature and good electrical as well as optical properties. Co-precipitation method was used to fabricate ZnO NPs, iron doped and copper doped ZnO NPs and their composite with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The structural parameters of pure and doped samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction method. Functional group study of the sample was carried out by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Morphological study of bare ZnO, iron doped ZnO, copper doped ZnO and their composite with rGO were studied by SEM. XRD pattern showed that ZnO had hexagonal wurtzite structure. The studies of electrochemical properties of the electrode using cyclic voltammetry showed that prepared samples were promising for the development of cost effective and non-enzymatic electrochemical based glucose sensor with excellent characteristics. The prepared iron doped ZnO/rGO based composite signify greater sensitivity and greater electrocatalytic activity than rest of the composition considered in current study.

Towards bio-safe and easily redispersible bare ZnO quantum dots engineered via organometallic wet-chemical processing

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are of widespread importance for their unique combination of physicochemical properties and a number of prospective applications, and the search for efficient synthetic methods to produce readily dispersible, functionally stable and ligand-free quantum dot-based inks is a vital and timely area of research. We describe a convenient room-temperature and non-external-surfactant-assisted organometallic synthetic strategy for the reproducible preparation of solution-processable organic ligand-free zinc oxide (ZnO) QDs. The process involves the controlled transformation of a DMSO solution of commercially available diethylzinc upon exposition towards atmospheric air, where H2O and O2 act simultaneously as oxygen sources, and DMSO acts both as a solvent and a low-molecular-weight l-type surface protector. The resulting QDs with a narrow size distribution (4.7 ± 0.8 nm) were comprehensively characterized with a combination of various analytical techniques, which nicely documented their unique stabilities when dried, precipitated, re-dissolved or exposed to air. Moreover, to substantiate idealized surface passivation of the resulting QDs, we investigated their stability in the biological environment and nano-specific activity toward selected normal and cancer cell lines, and no significant toxic effect was revealed. Undoubtedly, the reported one-step-one-pot organometallic approach paves the way to high-quality and bio-stable ZnO QDs coated by an easily and reversibly removable organic shell, auguring applications in a vast array of devices and nanomedicine.

Selective detection of ammonia by rGO decorated nanostructured ZnO for poultry and farm field applications

Nanostructured Zinc Oxide (ZnO) was deposited by the spray pyrolysis technique. The ZnO was further functionalized by reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) using the doctor blade method. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) studies of bare and rGO functionalized ZnO showed multiple peaks and polycrystalline in nature. The morphological studies confirmed rGO distribution over the ZnO surface. The ammonia sensing studies of the bare and functionalized ZnO were analyzed by varying the temperature from room temperature (RT) to 450 °C. The rGO/ZnO exhibited increased sensitivity towards ammonia at a lower temperature (300 °C) compared with bare ZnO. The range of detection was found to be 0.5 ppm to 100 ppm. The selectivity studies towards 20 ppm ammonia in a mixed gas environment were also investigated.

Palladium and Graphene Oxide Doped ZnO for Aqueous Acetamiprid Degradation under Visible Light

Acetamiprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide widely used in pest control. In recent years, it has been considered as a contaminant in groundwater, lakes, and rivers. Photocatalysis under visible light radiation proved to be an effective process for getting rid of several organic pollutants. In the present work, photodegradation of aqueous acetamiprid was investigated over bare zinc oxide (ZnO) photocatalyst as well as ZnO doped with either palladium or palladium combined with graphene oxide. Both ZnO and doped-ZnO were synthesized via a microwave-assisted hydrothermal procedure. The obtained photocatalysts were characterized using different techniques. After 5 h of reaction at ambient temperature under visible light irradiation, acetamiprid conversions attained ca. 38, 82, and 98% in the presence of bare ZnO, Pd-doped ZnO and Pd-GO-doped ZnO photocatalysts, respectively, thus demonstrating the positive effect of Pd- and GO-doping on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. In addition, Pd-GO-doped ZnO was shown to keep its activity even when it is recycled five times, thus proving its stability in the reaction medium.

Tetraaryldiamine-based electron-transporting interlayers for performance and stability enhancement of organic solar cells

Three novel tetraaryldiamines are synthesized and applied as an interlayer between zinc oxide (ZnO) and photoactive layers in PTB7-Th:PC71BM solar cells. The arylamines have an optical bandgap of 3.0–3.4 eV and do not interfere with the light-harvesting window of our polymer:fullerene combination. They enhance the power conversion efficiency from 7.48% in the control device to 8.95%, 8.18%, and 7.84% in PN-, PA-, and PAP-based devices, respectively. The dependence of photovoltaic parameters on the deposition conditions of the interlayer reveals that the current density and fill factor are the main parameters that increase when tetraaryldiamines are used as an interlayer. The external quantum efficiency increases from 73.1% in the bare ZnO device to 77.7–82.0% in the interlayer-incorporated devices. The power loss owing to the series and shunt resistances is reduced by a suitable alignment of the electronic energy levels with the interlayer and enhanced charge transfer through the components. Interlayer-incorporated devices also show a superior environmental stability compared to devices using bare ZnO. The results of this study should help advance the engineering strategies for organic solar cells with enhanced performances.

Fabrication of gum acacia protected zinc oxide nanoparticles for UV assisted photocatalysis of methyl green textile dye

In this communication, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using zinc acetate as precursor, potassium hydroxide as reducing agent and natural polysaccharide (gum acacia) as capping agent is prepared to photocatalytically degrade methyl green textile dye. Surface modification of ZnO nanoparticles with gum acacia leads to change in morphology coupled with reduction in size from 31 to 16 nm. Gum acacia capped ZnO nanoparticles as photocatalyst shows greater efficiency (95%) of degrading methyl green than the bare ZnO nanoparticles (90%). Therefore, gum acacia capped zinc oxide nanoparticles could be used to treat various dye effluents from textile industries.

Design and fabrication of zinc oxide-graphene nanocomposite for gas sensing applications

Gas sensing devices are essential in many applications and are widely developed to detect exhaust gases and air quality rapidly and accurately. However, there is still an urgent demand to achieve the sensing material and state-of-the-art sensor device. This work combines the theoretical and experimental studies to design and fabricate a hybrid zinc oxide (ZnO)/graphene to further tailor the materials for better performance than the individual materials. The first-principles calculations were performed to gain fundamental understandings of the gas response of the different hybrid structures. Then, we constructed the different nanocomposite models to include the graphene decorated with ZnO nanoclusters (Zn12O12/graphene), a hybrid ZnO/graphene layers, compared with bare ZnO and graphene layers. The best candidate matrix, Zn12O12/graphene, exhibiting excellent gas sensing properties, was selected for chemical synthesis using the reliable and straightforward technique. Hybrid nanocomposites were formed, varying the graphene concentrations in ZnO from 1 to 10 wt%, confirmed by SEM and XRD. The nanohybrid with 5 wt% graphene mixture showed a high gas response of 54.30 upon the ethanol gas of 2,000 ppm, which was more responsive than the graphene or ZnO alone. The proposed study can lead to the design and fabrication of highly sensitive ethanol gas sensors.

High Performance Dye Sensitized Solar Cells by Plasmonic Enhancement of Silver Nanoparticles in ZnO Photoelectrode with Betanin Pigment

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) introduced in sensitive places in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) has demonstrated superior performance due to surface plasmon resonance effect. Herein, a systematic investigation by introducing plasmonic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the photoanode of DSSCs with Zinc oxide (ZnO) is investigated. The broadening of the absorption band in the visible region is made possible using the natural pigments betanins. The combined effect of UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, XRD technique, SEM and solar simulator were used to explore the surface plasmon resonance effect. The ZnO photoanode without Ag- NPs shows a Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) of 0.156 %, Current Density (Jsc) of 0.477 mAcm-2, Open Circuit Voltage (Voc) of 0.762 V and Fill Factor (FF) of 0.431. On coating AgNPs on the pristine photoanode, the PCEs were improved significantly as compared with the pure ZnO based device. The AgNPs were deposited in cycles (2 cycles, 4 cycles and 6 cycles). The device with 2 cycles of Ag NPs, shows a PCE of 0.373 % which demonstrates an enhancement of 2.39 times to that of the prestine device.Also depositing 4 cycles of AgNPs results to PCE of 0.290 % which shows a leading of 0.134 % ahead of the reference PCE. With 6 cycles of AgNPs deposited on the photoanode of bare ZnO NPs, it results to PCE of 0.244%, FF of 0.592, Jsc of 0.572 mAcm-2 and Voc of 0.722 V which also shows an enhancement of - 1.56 times, 1.37 times and 1.20 times in PCE, FF and Jsc over the device lacking AgNPs. These results show significant increment in performances of all the devices with silver inclusion. The performance is attributed to the reduced recombination of electron–hole pairs due to the Ag-ZnO junction and the generation of intense electric fields at the immediate vicinity of the sensitizer, resulting in enhanced light absorption.

Ultrasonication-assisted fabrication of porous ZnO@C nanoplates for lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries have made significant commercial and academic progress in recent decades. Zinc oxide (ZnO) has been widely studied as a lithium-ion battery anode due to its high theoretical capacity of 987 mAh g-1, natural abundance, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, ZnO suffers from poor electronic conductivity and large volume variation during the battery discharge/charge process, leading to capacity deterioration during long-term cycling. Herein, porous ZnO@C nanoplates are developed to offer short ion diffusion pathways and good conduction networks for both Li ions and electrons. The porous nanoplates provide abundant active sites for electrochemical reactions with minimized charge transfer impedance. As a result, the porous ZnO@C nanoplates deliver higher performance for lithium-ion storage compared with a bare ZnO anode. Furthermore, with the introduction of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), the ZnO@C@rGO composite anode achieves a capacity of 229.3 mAh g-1 at a high current density of 2 A g-1.

Green and cost-effective synthesis of zinc oxide thin films by L-ascorbic acid (AA) and their potential for electronics and antibacterial applications

The evolution of eco-friendly, green route and cheap technology for synthesizing nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films using plant extracts is a promising choice because such materials present a widespread potential for numerous technological applications. This study proposes the green and cost-effective technique to synthesize stable ZnO thin films using a good reducing agent and facilitating many natural L-ascorbic acids (AA) metabolic reactions capacity. The influence of AA concentrations in the starting bath solution on ZnO samples' structural, morphological, electrical and antibacterial performances has been reported in detail. The main physical characteristics of the ZnO materials were improved by supplementing of reducing and capping agents AA. Average particle size varies with the adding AA from 58.29 to 48.68 nm and also thickness of these films was decreased from 0.82 to 0.44 μm. Also, it was seen that, the presence of AA in the bath solution significantly affected the absorption process and causes a morphological alteration due to the reaction between Zn2+ and AA during the deposition process. FTIR transmittance spectra of bare ZnO presented that a transmittance peak about 886 cm−1 and 748 cm−1 was created by the characteristic stretching vibration mode of the Zn–O. The resistivity of the produced films significantly changed with AA concentration in the bath solution. Antibacterial potentials of bare ZnO and ascorbic acid added ZnO films were examined against economically important Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) gram-positive bacteria and Escherichia coli (ATCC 35218) gram-negative bacterial disease agents via handling paper disc diffusion assay. The obtained diameter of the zones of inhibition was 20.1 mm for E. coli and 28.1 mm for S. aureus at the dose of ZnO+AA 8.0%. These inhibition diameters were larger than the diameter of ampicillin as our positive control alone. This proves that the newly synthesized compound is a powerful antibacterial agent.

Band-edge emission enhancement in sputtered ZnO thin films with ultraviolet surface lattice resonances

Metallic nanostructures acting as optical nanoantennas can significantly enhance the photoluminescence (PL) of nearby emitters. Albeit luminescence enhancement factors of several orders of magnitude have been reported for quantum dots or molecules, in the case of bulk emitters, the magnitude of the plasmonic enhancement is strongly hindered by the weak spatial overlap between the active medium and the electromagnetic modes of the nanoantenna. Here, we propose a solid-state ultraviolet emitter based on a thin film of zinc oxide (ZnO) coupled with an array of aluminum (Al) nanoparticles. The Al nanorod array is designed to sustain surface lattice resonances (SLRs) in the near ultraviolet, which are hybrid modes exhibiting a Fano-like lineshape with narrowed linewidth relatively to the non-hybridized plasmonic modes. By changing both the period of the array and the dimensions of the nanorods, the generated SLR is tuned either to the near band-edge (NBE) emission of ZnO or to the excitation wavelength. We experimentally demonstrate that NBE emission can be increased up to a factor of 3 compared to bare ZnO. The underlying PL enhancement mechanisms are experimentally investigated and compared with numerical simulations. We also demonstrate that SLRs are more efficient for the ZnO luminescence enhancement compared to localized surface plasmon resonances.

Improving the ZnO-photocatalytic degradation of humic acid using powdered residuals from water purification plant

Abstract Alum residuals were collected from a water treatment plant and used for improving the photocatalytic degradation of humic acid (HA) by combinations of zinc oxide (ZnO) and powdered residuals from a water purification plant (PRWPP). The influence of operating conditions such as initial humic acid concentration, pH, irradiation time, PRWPP to ZnO ratio, catalyst dose, and light illuminance have been investigated. The optimum PRWPP to ZnO ratio was 10:90. Using the prepared composites instead of bare ZnO raised the HA removal efficiency from 85.5% to 97.8%, and from 38% to 48.1% at catalyst doses of 1.2 g/l and 0.4 g/l, respectively. Moreover, it reduced energy consumption from 210.4 to 166.2 Wh per mg of HA. An artificial neural network model (ANN) was developed to predict the removal efficiency under different operating conditions. The optimum ANN structure yielded a coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.993). A modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood pseudo-first-order model was used for describing the degradation kinetics at different initial concentrations of HA.