Prof. Oleg Ozerov (CHEM) has been working on a study that aims to help decrease the impact of greenhouse gases on the environment by lessening the harmful effects of carbon-fluorine bonds found in many commercially used products. Ozerov first gained recognition for this study, which is funded through a grant from the Department of Energy, last August after publishing his findings in Science.

"What we're trying to do is see if we can find new ways to activate carbon-fluorine bonds," Ozerov said.

"Carbon-fluorine bonds are commonly used as refrigerants, propellants, lubricants and repellants, but they have damaging effects to the environment and are harmful to the ozone layer."

Ozerov continued, "Carbon-fluorine bonds are among the more inert functionalities in chemistry. A lot of compounds that contain multiple carbon-fluorine bonds are also environmental pollutants. All these compounds with multiple fluorines in them are very potent greenhouse gases."

Activating the carbon-fluorine bon can convert them into carbon-hydrogen bonds, which are less harmful to the environment, according to Ozerov.

Ozerov said the possibility of helping to repair the environment through his research is highly motivating.

"[I have] motivation for doing C-F activation because basically what we're trying to achieve is perhaps a remediation method for something that is a known environmental pollutant."

Ozerov's research has contributed extensively to the study's progress.

"We now can convert carbon-fluorine bonds to carbon-hydrogen bonds at room temperature and compounds that contain multiple carbon-fluorine bonds," he said.

Others besides Ozerov have also enjoyed watching the study grow. Graduate student Claudia Fafard has contributed to the study as well.

"[The study has been] hard but fun and interesting. I've been here the longest [out of the other undergraduate and graduate students], so you just get to work on at least eight different projects," she said.

Fafard continued, "There's always a theme that kind of connects everything, but you also get to learn about other people's projects, so you always know what's going on."

Ozerov said he was motivated to research something that hadn't been tested before.

"At some point I guess it occurred to me that [researching carbon-fluorine bonds] hasn't been done, and I thought that I sort of had an interesting solution that I wanted to try," Ozerov said.

In addition to his research on carbon-fluorine bonds, Ozerov has been getting involved with other projects that attempt to repair the environment.

"Recently I became involved in [the Powering the Planet Center, sponsored by the National Science Foundation] that combines multiple investigators from several universities."

Ozerov said he did not know from a young age what he wanted to do when he was older but made decisions gradually as he progressed through life.

He advised students to follow their passions.

"I think it's important for everyone to do what they like to do [so] they can be the best at it, instead of doing what they think they should be doing," he said. "It takes more effort to be as good [at something you don't enjoy], as opposed to doing something that you like.