Embedded Files
From left to right: Gisselle, Lydia, Emily, Kolton, Fatima, Rayyah, Krishna, Jay, and Dhruti
From left to right: Rayyah, Emily, Kolton, Gisselle, Krishna, Lydia, and Fatima
From left to right of top photo: Krishna, Kolton, Mike, Emily, Fallon, Fatima, and Charles (not shown)
From left to right: Emily, Fatima, Kathryn, Mike, Kolton, Fallon
From left to right: Kolton, Brooke, Mike, Chandra, Fallon, Kathryn
From left to right: Tram, Kajal, Anthony, Aurora, Mike, Daniel, Mariah, Dylan
From left to right: Marina, Paloma, Daniel, LeShont’a, Russell, Assem, James
From left to right: Neden, Marina, Caixia, Sakr, Tavia, Tyler, Bonn, Daniel, Justin
From left to right: Tavia, Jo, Caixia, Daniel, Erica, Justin
From left to right: Busra, Ka Hin, Daoyuan, Martiyha, Jeannie
From left to right: Daoyuan, Azhar, Eric, Brittany, Keary, Merve
From left to right: Merve, Azhar, Monroe
From left to right: Brittany, Azhar, Brendan, Keary, Daoyuan
From left to right: Keary, Azhar, Brendan
From left to right: Brian, Yutaro, Aminiel, Eric, Chulho, Qing
From left to right: Yang, Aaron, Kristy, Daveta (Dee), Chulho
Group Members
Group Members
GRADUATE STUDENTS:
1) Krishna Subedi (2024-, Ph. D. candidate)
“Light enhanced osmotic power generation using reduced graphene oxide membranes.”
Email: ksubedi@ualr.edu
2) Emily Gonzalez Baltazar (2026-present, MS candidate)
“Direct Lithium Extraction from Arkansas Smackover Brine.”
Email: ergonzalezb@ualr.edu
3) Michael Appiah-Kubi (2020-2025, Ph. D. candidate)
“Investigating the oxidation resistance of reduced graphene oxide filtration membranes for sustainable water purification.”
Email: mxappiahkub@ualr.edu
4) Chandra Man Shakya Shakya (2023, Ph. D. candidate)
“2D Nanomaterials for Water Purification, Blue Energy Harvesting, and Iontronics.”
Email: cmshakya@ualr.edu
5) Daniel Anicet Nde Sarakang (2016-2021, Ph. D. candidate)
“CARBON-BASED NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS FOR ENERGY AND WATER PURIFICATION APPLICATIONS.”
Email: dxndesaraka@ualr.edu
6) Daoyuan Wang (2011-2015, Ph. D. candidate)
“SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS OF GRAPHENE OXIDE AND ITS DERIVATIVES AND COMPOSITES.”
Email: dxwang@ualr.edu)
7) Azhar Kamel (2009-2013, Ph. D. candidate)
“UNDERSTANDING THE INTERACTIONS OF CARBON NANOTUBES WITH ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT IONS AND HYDROGEN PEROXIDE FOR OPTICAL SENSING.”
Email: aakamel@ualr.edu
8) Busra Ergul (2013-, Ph. D. candidate)
“Interference Factors for Carbon Nanotubes for Sensing.”
Email: busbusraergul@gmail.com
9) Xiaomin (Helen) Tu (2005-2008, Ph. D. candidate), now an employee of National Institute of Standards and Technology
“Development of Carbon Nanotube-Based Optical Biosensors.”
10) Chul-ho Song (2000-2004, Ph. D. candidate)
“Synthesis and Optical Properties of Soluble Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.”
Outcome:
research papers including one JACS paper and 10 conference presentations.
Department Graduate Research Award, CSAM, 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Email: songchulho@hotmail.com
11) Assem Basurrah (2017-2019, MS candidate)
“ELECTROCHEMICAL NITROGEN REDUCTION TO AMMONIA USING MOLYBDENUM DISULFIDE-BASED
NANOCATALYSTS.”
Email: aobasurrah@ualr.edu
12) Busra Ergul (2011-2013, MS candidate)
“Infrared Vibrational Spectroscopy Analysis of Selected Biomolecules.”
Email: busbusraergul@gmail.com
13) Eric Gangluff (2011-2012, MS candidate)
“Carbon Nanotube-Protein complexes.”
Email: emgangluff@ualr.edu
14) Soumana Daddy Goah (2009-2010, M.S. candidate)
“Solution Approaches for Graphene Synthesis.”
15) Qing Delgado (09/00-10/02, M. S. (Fall 2002), now an employee of Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
“Preparation and Optical measurements of Luminescent Nanostructural Materials.”
Outcome:
1 conference presentation and 1 paper in preparation.
Department Graduate Research Award, CSAM, May 3, 2002.
Email: qing708@yahoo.com
16) Wei Li (Fall 1999)
“Stability Study of a Novel Lignosulfonic Acid-Doped Polyaniline”
Outcome:
1 paper and 1 conference presentation.
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS AND VISITING SCHOLARS:
1) Qingbin Xue (July. 2003-July 2004, Postdoctoral Fellow)
“Organic Synthesis of Soluble Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.”
2) Chul-ho Song (2005-2007, Postdoctoral Fellow)
“Water-Soluble Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Optical Biosensors.”
3) Yang Xu (Jan., 2005-2008, Postdoctoral Fellow)
“Preparation, Purification and Separation of Functionalized Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.”
4) Wenlin Feng (Dec. 2013-Dec. 2014, Visiting Scholar)
“Experimental and theoretical studies of the defect structures and spectroscopic properties of transition metal and lanthanide ions in nanostructural optical materials.”
5) Xiangyu Xu (Jan. 2014-Jan. 2015, Visiting Scholar)
“Synthesis and characterization of rare earth-doped nanostructural alumina.”
6) Caixia Li (April 2016-April 2017, Visiting Scholar)
“Biotemplated synthesis of NiFe oxide nanocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction.”
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:
1) Rayyah Shah (2025-present, SURF and Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“pH-Dependence of Reduced Graphene Oxide Membrane-Based Osmotic Batteries.”
Email: rwshah@ualr.edu
2) Lydia Thomas (2025-present, SURF and Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Reduced Graphene Oxide Forward Osmosis Membranes for Concentrating Tetramethylammonium in Wastewater.”
Email: lathomas1@ualr.edu
3) Gisselle Ellington (2025-present, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration Membranes for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water.”
Email: glellington2@ualr.edu
4) Dhruti Patel (2025-present)
“Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration Membranes for Wastewater Purification.”
Email: dnpatel1@ualr.edu
5) Jay Patel (2025-present)
“Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration Membranes for Lithium Enrichment from Lithium Brine.”
Email: jhpatel1@ualr.edu
6) Fatima Shah (2024-present, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration Membranes for Removing Algal Toxins.”
Email: fshah@ualr.edu
7) Emily Gonzalez Baltazar (2024-present, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Low-Energy Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration Membranes for PFAS Removal from Drinking Water.”
Email: ergonzalezb@ualr.edu
8) Fallon Tolbert (2023-2025, SURF and Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Reduced Graphene Oxide-MoS2 Composite Membranes for Wastewater Treatment.”
Email: ftolbert@ualr.edu
9) Kolton Claybrook (2023-present, SURF and Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Reducing Tetramethylammonium Wastewater Volumes with Near Zero-Energy Forward Osmosis.”
Email: kclaybrook@ualr.edu
10) Brooke Nehmelman (2023-present, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Recovering Sulfuric Acid from Hydrogen Peroxide-Sulfuric Acid Mixtures with Forward Osmosis.”
Email: bnehmelman@ualr.edu
11) Kathryn Marsh (2023-present, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Recovery of Urea with Reduced Graphene Oxide-MoS2 Composite Membranes.”
Email: klmarsh@ualr.edu
12) Kierra Parker (2021-2023, SURF and Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Tuning Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration Membranes for Osmotic Power Generation.”
Email: kparker@ualr.edu
13) Elizabeth Barbot (2022-2023, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Thermal reduction of graphene oxide membranes to facilitate osmotic power generation.”
Email: ejbarbot@ualr.edu
14) Cecile Barnes (2021-2022, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Purification of lead polluted water using improved reduced graphene oxide-based filtration membranes.”
15) Nicole Swayze (2021-2022, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Removal of Arsenic from Drinking Water Using Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration.”
16) Mailee Xiong (2021-2022, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Reduced Graphene Oxide Filtration Membranes for Removal of Nitrite for Water Purification.”
17) Tram Nguyen (2020-2022, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Improved Reduced Graphene Oxide Filtration Membranes for Removal of Estrogens from Drinking Water.”
18) Kajal Desai (2019-2021, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Revisiting the Chemical Stability of Molybdenum Disulfide Filtration Membranes.”
“Graphene Oxide-MoS2 Composite Membranes for Arsenic and
Lead Polluted Water Purification.”
19) Thao Luu (2021)
“Removal of Nitrate Using Reduced Graphene Oxide Filtration Membranes for Water Purification.”
20) Dylan Nguyen (2020-2021, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Investigation of Highly Stable Reduced Graphene Oxide Membranes for Water Purification.”
21) Anthony Aloi (2019-2021, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Enhancing GO and RGO Filtration Membrane Efficiencies with UV Light for PFAS-Polluted Water Purification.”
22) Olgaaurora Rodriguez (2018-2020, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Biomass-derived Nanofiltration Membranes for Drinking Water Purification.”
23) Chandrasimha Penthala (2018-2019, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Synthesis of NiFe oxide-based metal-organic framework nanosheets on 3D reduced graphene oxide foams for water-splitting electrocatalysis.”
24) James Sellers (2017-2018, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Electrochemical splitting of CO2 for O2 gas and solid carbon production.”
25) LeShont`a Williams (2017-2018, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Using Tin Dioxide.”
26) Paloma Salazar (2017-2018, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Copper-Based Nanocatalysts for Electrochemically Converting CO2 to Fuels.”
27) Marina Avram (2017-2018, Signature Experience Grant Awardee)
“Algal oculata biotemplated Nie oxide nanocatalysts.”
28) Neden Yacine (2016-2017)
“Few-layered, nanosized tungsten (IV) disulfide antioxidant and its ROS scavenging abilities.”
29) Jeannie Kuang-Nguyen (2015-2016)
“Nanostructure-Assisted Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting for Hydrogen and Oxygen Production.”
Email: jxkuangnguy@ualr.edu
30) Martiyha Simmons (2014-2015)
“Nanostructure-Assisted Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting for Hydrogen and Oxygen Production.”
Email: mlsimmons1@ualr.edu
31) Ka Hin Wong (2014-2016)
“Solubilization of Layered Compounds.”
Email: kxwong@ualr.edu
32) Keary Woodard (2010-2012)(McNair Scholar)
“Optical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes.”
Email: kxwoodard@ualr.edu
33) Brittany Brecht (2009-2011)
“Redox Properties of Carbon Nanotubes and Their Interactions with Cells.”
Email: blbrecht@ualr.edu
34) Monroe Suber (2011-2012)
“Interactions of Carbon Nanotubes with Phytochemicals.”
Email: mdsuber@ualr.edu
35) Marvin Lowe (2011-2012)
“ROS sensing based on Carbon Nanotubes.”
Email: mdlowe1@ualr.edu
36) Merve Yurtsever (2011 Summer)(Summer Internship from Hacettepe University, Turkey)
“Infrared Spectroscopy of Hydrogen Peroxide in a blood model matrix.”
Email: fmyurtsever@hotmail.com
37) Brendan Sickles (2010-2011)
“Nonlinear Optical Properties of Redox-Controlled Carbon Nanotubes.”
Email: bcsickles@ualr.edu
38) Eric Gangluff (2011)
“Carbon Nanotube-Protein complexes for Sensing.”
Email: emgangluff@ualr.edu
39) Eric M. Tee (2001-2004)
“2D IR Correlation Spectra of Biological Samples Involving Carbon Nanotubes.”
Outcome:
2 refereed papers and 5 conference presentations.
CRC Outstanding Freshman Chemistry Student, 2001.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2002, 2003.
Email: emtee@ualr.edu
40) Brian Benedict (Fall 2002-2003)
“Synthesis of Nanostructural Materials and Their Molecular Interactions with Biomolecules.”
2 conference presentations and one paper in J. Phys. Chem. B.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2003.
Email: naryboy@collegeclub.com
41) Aminiel Awichi (2000-2004)
“2D IR Correlation Spectroscopy for a Biological Matrix.”
Outcome:
2 refereed papers and 5 conference presentations.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2001 & 2002.
Email: axawichi@yahoo.com
42) Yutaro Kobayashi (Summer 2002-2003)
“Synthesis and Optical Properties of Nanostructural Materials.”
CRC Outstanding Freshman Chemistry Student, 2002.
1 ACS meeting presentation.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2003.
Email: yxkobayashi@ualr.edu
43) Giri Srikanthan (Summer, 2000)
“Identification of Overlapped Near IR Bands of Glucose Anomers Using 2D IR Correlation Spectroscopy.”
Outcome:
1 refereed paper and 3 conference presentations.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2001.
44) Kristy Kelley (Summer 2003-2005)
“Optical Properties of DNA Wrapped Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.”
Outcome:
One ACS meeting presentation (March, 2004) and one paper in J. Nanosci. Nanotech.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2004.
45) Virang Patel (Summer 2004)
“Water-Soluble HiPco Nanotubes for H2O2 Related Optical Biosensing.”
Outcome:
One ACS meeting presentation, March, 2005.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2005.
46) Aaron Haefele (Summer 2004-2006)
“Enzymes-Wrapped Water-Soluble Carbon Nanotubes.”
Outcome:
One ACS meeting presentation, March, 2005.
Department Undergraduate Research Award, CSAM, 2005.
47) Tabitha Gibbs (Fall 2004)
“Dissolution of Surfactant-Encased Carbon Nanotubes in Organic Solvents.”
48) Daveta Silas (Spring 2005-2006)
” Enzyme-Immobilized Carbon Nanotubes for Optical Biosensing.”
49) Charlie Tucker (Summer 2005-2006)
” Toxcity of Water-Soluble Carbon Nanotubes in Cells.”
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