Xiya Du was born in Handan, Hebei Province, China. She attended College of Chemical Engineering at North China University of Science and Technology in 2014 for undergraduate education. She joined Hebei Key Laboratory on Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Materials for Environment as a laboratory assistant and conducted undergraduate research with Prof. Hongping Chen in the summer of 2015. Subsequently, she participated in innovation and entrepreneurship training program for college students as a project leader in 2016. After receiving the B.S. degree in 2018, She went to School of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Tianjin University by postgraduate recommendation, where she worked with Prof. Xingang Li for the master thesis. She was engaged in photocatalytic hydrogen production and pollutant degradation. Based on the disadvantages of g-C₃N₄ semiconductor, a series of modification methods (Step-scheme heterojunctions, defect engineering and oxygen doping) were used to improve photocatalytic performance. These works afford a new insight in rationally constructing highly efficient Step-scheme systems with the aid of other advanced strategies. In 2021, she graduated with the M.Sc. degree and then was admitted by School of Science of Westlake University. Henceforth, she began her doctoral career under the guidance of Prof. Lei Sun.