LU Yaowei joined the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, CAS as a postdoctoral researcher in November 2025. His research interests now encompass biomass catalytic conversion, and the design of advanced heterogeneous catalysts. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics from Paris-Saclay University in June 2025. His doctoral research, supervised by Prof. Vincent Favre and Dr. Francois-Xavier Legrand, focused on multicompartmental lipid-based Janus nanoparticles, investigating their formation mechanisms and potential as drug delivery vehicles. This funding was supported by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) Doctoral Scholarship.

His academic foundation in catalytic chemistry was established during his Master's studies in Physical Chemistry at Yunnan University under the supervision of Prof. Wenhao Fang. His master's research focused on the selective hydrogenation of levulinic acid catalyzed by supported platinum-group metal nanoparticles. This work provided him with deep expertise in heterogeneous catalyst preparation, characterization, and the catalytic conversion of biomass. LU Yaowei holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Zhengzhou University.

Selected Publications

1. Yaowei Lu^#, Botao Fan^#, Runze Zhang, Wanjin Xue, Shipeng Wu*, Qinghu Tang, Feng Qiu, Wenhao Fang*, Electron-Deficient Nickel Sites Provoked by the Adjacent Praseodymium Oxide Enable High-Performance Biomass Derivatives Hydrogenation, ACS Catalysis, 2025, 15, 20635-20648.

2. Yaowei Lu, Yongxing Wang, Qinghu Tang, Qiue Cao, Wenhao Fang*, Synergy in Sn-Mn oxide boosting the hydrogenation catalysis of supported Pt nanoparticles for selective conversion of levulinic acid, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 2022, 300, 120746.

3. Yaowei Lu, Yongxing Wang, Yinghao Wang, Qiue Cao, Xiaoguang Xie, Wenhao Fang*. Effective control of Lewis acidity and synergy for bifunctional Ru/(AlO)(ZrO)_n catalysts in hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone, Molecular Catalysis, 2020, 493, 111097.

▪ Biomass catalytic conversion

▪ Preparation and characterization of heterogeneous catalysts.

▪ Lipid-based nanoparticles and their application in drug delivery