Catalysis and Surface Chemistry Lab
Research Field
Prof. Wen-Yueh Yu received his B.S. (2002) and M.S. (2004) both in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University (NTU). He then worked as a research assistant in the Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taiwan from 2005 to 2009 before pursuing Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University at Texas, Austin under the supervision of Prof. C. Buddie Mullins. He joined the group of Prof. Chih-Jen Shih in ETH Zurich as a postdoc researcher in 2015. He joined the current department as assistant professor in 2017, and is promoted to associated professor in 2021.
Prof. Yu is the recipient of Chemical Engineering Excellence Award from Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers (2020), Best Paper Award from Catalysis Society of Taiwan (2021), Young Investigator Award from Taipei International Conference on Catalysis (2022), and Dissertation Supervisor Award from National Taiwan University (2023). Prof. Yu is the Early Career Researcher Editorial Board of Materials Today Sustainability since 2021, and the Associate Editor of Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering since 2024. As of 2025 Spring, Prof. Yu has published 58 SCI papers with a h-index of 25.
We are a research group under the direction of Prof. Wen-Yueh Yu in the Department of Chemical Engineering at National Taiwan University. Our research focuses on the overlapping topics of heterogeneous catalysis, surface science, and functional nanomaterials. We aim at integrating both fundamental and engineering approaches to develop catalytic materials with desired properties and enhanced performance for green chemistry processes and alternative energy technologies.
Prof. Yu’s research topics cover heterogeneous catalysis, surface science, in-situ spectroscopy characterizations, and functional nanomaterials. In the past five years, Yu research group has been working on the (1) non-reductive conversion of CO2 with alcohols over CeO2-based catalysts, (2) transfer hydrogenation of biomass derivatives using liquid hydrogen donors, (3) exploration of surface chemistry of nanostructured materials using in-situ characterizations, (4) catalytic removal of NO and NH3, and (5) electrochemical hydrogenation of biomass derivatives.
- Chemical Engineering Excellence Award, Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers (2024)
- Aspiration Award in Excellent Academic Performance, College of Engineering at National Taiwan University (2024)
- Dissertation Supervisor Award, National Taiwan University (2023)
- Outstanding Teaching Award, National Taiwan University (2023)
- Young Investigator Award, Taipei International Conference on Catalysis (2022)
- Outstanding Teaching Award, National Taiwan University (2021)
- Best Paper Award, Catalysis Society of Taiwan (2021)
- Chemical Engineering Excellence Award, Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers (2020)
- Supervisor for College Student Research Creativity Award (2020)
- Best Post Presentation Award, 8th Asia-Pacific Congress in Catalysis (2019)
- Merit Pay Award for Distinguished Scholars, Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (2017-2020)
- NATEA-Dallas Scholarship, North America Taiwanese Engineering & Science Association (2014)
- IPMI Metro New York Chapter Student Award, International Precious Metals Institute (2014)
- Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, USA (2015)
- M.S. in Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan (2004)
- B.S. in Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan (2002)