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Summary: Mixing iodide and bromide in halide perovskite semiconductors is an effective strategy to tune their band gap; therefore, mixed-halide perovskites hold great promise for color-tunable LEDs and tandem solar cells. However, the band gap of mixed-halide perovskites is unstable under (sun-)light, since the halides segregate into domains of different band gaps. Using pressure-dependent ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy, we find that high external pressure increases the range of stable halide mixing ratios. Chemical compression, by inserting a smaller cation, has the same effect, which means that any iodide:bromide ratio can be stabilized by tuning the crystal volume and compressibility. We interpret these findings as an increased thermodynamic stabilization through alteration of the Gibbs free energy via the largely overlooked PΔV term.

Nanoscopic water droplets in a hydrophobic liquid are abundant in the earth, our bodies and the sky. Here, it is shown that the surface of such a droplet has stronger hydrogen bonds than a planar interface of water and a hydrophobic liquid, equivalent to a 50 K reduction of the surface temperature.

We study the effect of antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs) on the survival of organoids under hypothermic conditions. We find that the survival of organoids in cold conditions depends on their developmental stage. Mature organoids die within 24 h when being stored at 4 °C, while cystic organoids can survive up to 48 h. We find that in the presence of AFGPs, the organoid survival is prolonged up to 72 h, irrespective of their developmental stage. Fluorescence microscopy experiments reveal that the AFGPs predominately localize at the cell surface and cover the cell membranes. Our findings support a mechanism in which the positive effect of AFGPs on cell survival during hypothermic storage involves the direct interaction of AFGPs with the cell membrane. Our research highlights organoids as an attractive multicellular model system for studying the action of AFGPs that bridges the gap between single-cell and whole-organ studies.