Iris Yu

Biography

Iris Yu is interested in the upcycling of biomass waste, food waste in particular, to platform chemicals and sustainable materials as alternatives to petroleum-based products, with the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality. She specialises in microwave-assisted conversion, green solvents and catalysts, and sustainable thermochemical processes. She obtained her PhD from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in 2018. Before joining NUS, she was a Research Assistant Professor at PolyU and a Humboldt Fellow at the Technical University of Munich.

Personal webpage: https://www.yuiris.com/
Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57190732193

Qualifications

• PhD, Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2018
• BSc, Environment and Sustainable Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2014

Positions Held

• Research Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2021-2023
• Humboldt Fellow, Postdoc, Technical University of Munich, 2019-2021
• Postdoc, University of York, 2018-2019

Selected Honours & Awards

• Rising Star in Green Chemistry Education Award, Green Chemistry Institute, American Chemical Society, 2025
• L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Singapore 2024
• MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 (TR35) Asia Pacific 2023
• Highly Cited Researcher 2022, 2023 (Cross-Field)
• Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (2023 -)
• Winner, Young Voices in the Chemical Sciences for Sustainability 2023, International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (IOCD)
• Humboldt Research Fellow, The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, 2020
• FCE Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2018

Professional Activities

• Early Career Editorial Board, Science of the Total Environment (2023 -)
• Early Career Board, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2023 -)
• Young Editorial Board, Waste Disposal & Sustainable Energy (2022-)
• Advisory Board, RSC Sustainability (2023 -)
• Guest Editor, Environmental Pollution (2021), Science of the Total Environment (2020), Environmental Research (2020)
• Co-Chair, The 1^st International Conference on Food Waste to Food Sustainability 2022

Research Interests

• Biomass conversion
• Food waste upcycling
• Microwave technology
• Green and sustainable chemistry
• Bio-based platform chemicals
• Catalysis

Selected Publications

1. Zhang, Q.,  Liu, Z., Li, X., Yu, I.K.M.* Production of polyols from sugars in biorenewable alcohol: Selectivity of hydrogen transfer on metal catalysts. Green Chem., 2026, DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/D6GC01028H
2. Li, Z., Zhang, Q.,  Yu, I.K.M.* Towards sustainable microalgal farming: Galdieria sulphuraria cultivation on readily available short-chain sugars. Chem. Eng. J., 2026, 528, 172420.
3. Zhang, Q., Li, Z., Liu, Z., Prasetyatama, Y.D., Oh, W.K., Yu, I.K.M.* Microwave assisted biorefineries. Nature Reviews Clean Technology, 2025, 1, 269–287.
4. Cao, Y., Zhang, Q., Yu, I.K.M.*, Tsang, D.C.W.* Revealing OH species in situ generated on low-valence Cu sites for selective carbonyl oxidation. PNAS, 2024, 121, e2408770121.
5. Yu, I.K.M.; Deng, F.; Chen, X.; Cheng, G.; Liu, Y.; Zhang, W.*; Lercher, L.A.* Impact of hydronium ions on the Pd-catalyzed furfural hydrogenation.  Nat. Comm., 2022, 13, 7154.
6. Yu, I.K.M.; Rechberger, H.; Gutberlet, J.; Istrate, I.; Parizeau, K.; Sanctuary, M.; McQuillian, H.; de Barcellos, M.D. Closing the waste gap.One Earth, 2022, 5, 1181-1184.
7. Dutta, S.; Yu, I.K.M.; Fan, J.; Clark, J.H.; Tsang, D.C.W.* Critical factors for levulinic acid production from starch-rich food waste: Solvent effects, reaction pressure, and phase separation. Green Chem., 2022, 24, 163-175.
8. Yu, I.K.M*. Mechanistic understandings of catalytic hydrogenation of bio-derived aromatics. Green Chem., 2021, 23, 9239-9253.
9. Xiong, X.; Yu I.K.M.*; Dutta, S.; Mašek, O.; Tsang, D.C.W.* Valorization of humins from food waste biorefinery for the synthesis of biochar-supported Lewis acid catalysts.  Sci. Total Environ., 2021, 775, 145851.
10. Yu, I.K.M.; Fan, J.*; Budarin, V.L.*; Bouxin, F.P.; Clark, J.H.; Tsang, D.C.W. Evidences of starch-microwave interactions under hydrolytic and pyrolytic conditions. Green Chem., 2020, 22, 7109-7118.
11. Yu, I.K.M.; Fan, J.^*; Budarin, V.L.^*; Bouxin, F.P.; Clark, J.H.; Tsang, D.C.W. NaCl-promoted phase transition and glycosidic bond cleavage under microwave for energy-efficient biorefinery of rice starch. Green Chem., 2020, 22, 7355-7365.
12. Yu, I.K.M.; Attard, T.M.; Chen, S.S.; Tsang, D.C.W.^*; Hunt, A.J.^*; Jerome, F.; Ok, Y.S.; Poon, C.S. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of value-added products and thermochemical synthesis of platform chemicals from food waste. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng., 2019, 7, 2821-2829.
13. Yu, I.K.M.; Xiong, X.; Tsang, D.C.W.^*; Wang, L.; Hunt, A.J.; Song, H.; Shang, J.; Ok, Y.S.; Poon, C.S. Aluminium-biochar composites as sustainable heterogeneous catalysts for glucose isomerisation in a biorefinery. Green Chem., 2019, 21, 1267-1281.
14. Yu, I.K.M.; Tsang, D.C.W.^*; Yip, A.C.K.; Hunt, A.J.; Sherwood, J.; Shang, J.; Song H.C.; Ok, Y.S.; Poon, C.S. Propylene carbonate and γ-valerolactone as green solvents enhance Sn(IV)-catalysed hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) production from bread waste. Green Chem., 2018, 20, 2064-2074.