Erda Deng joined Dr. Haiqing Lin’s group in 2019, received his master's in 2020, and is now a PhD candidate at the University at Buffalo. His thesis focused on designing advanced membranes for water purification. Erda primarily involved surface-modified membranes for microalgae harvesting. He authored a review article in Sep. Purif. Technol. about various strategies for improving microalgae separation efficiency. Moreover, he authored another article published in Sep. Purif. Technol. regarding zwitterionic modification for enhancing membrane antifouling property.
Then, Erda started to work on 2D material membranes. He first co-authored one paper on graphene oxide (GO) modification to enhance antifouling properties on ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, and co-first authored another paper on dopamine-modified GO membrane with high dye/salt separation efficiency on J. Chem. Eng. Following the two publications, he worked on balancing the reduction and oxidation degree of the GO membrane to achieve both high water permeance and dye/salt separation. For the first time, he used hydrazine and peracetic acid to fine-tune the surface oxygen content and zeta potential of GO membranes. This work resulted in a research paper published on J. Membr. Sci.