In 1991, Ye joined the National Institute for Materials Science. She was made Director of Photocatalytic Materials Center in 2006 and Director of Environmental Remediation Materials in 2011. 
Ye has dedicated her career to the realization of artificial photosynthesis. She is particularly interested in the development of materials that harvest the most sunlight. Ye has studied the reaction mechanisms, and, in an effort to overcome harsh reaction kinetics, has worked on the careful construction of interfaces. In particular, Ye has developed nano-structured surfaces that enhance reactivities, and, using localized surface plasmon resonance, broaden the spectral range of her photocatalytic materials.
Ye was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2016. In 2022, she was included by the American Chemical Society Energy Letters in their list of the world's leading women scientists in energy research.