The description of the band gap of halide perovskites at the level of density functional theory (DFT) has been subject of several studies but still presents significant problems and deviations from experimental values. Various approaches have been proposed, including the use of system-specific hybrid functionals with a variable amount of exact exchange or the explicit inclusion of spin–orbit coupling (SOC) effects. In this work, we present a pragmatic recipe to compute the band gap of halide perovskites with a minimum average error. The recipe is tested on a set of 36 halide perovskites of the type ABX₃ [A = Cs, methyl-ammonium (MA), and formamidinium (FA); B = Ge, Sn, and Pb; and X = Cl, Br, and I] for which experimental estimates of the band gap have been reported in the literature. Upon assessment of the accuracy of commonly used DFT functionals and the analysis of their performances based on error and statistical analysis, we suggest a strategy to compute band gaps in halide perovskites with a single functional. This is based on the use of the hybrid HSE06 functional where SOC is included exclusively for Pb-containing compounds. The results are rationalized in terms of the materials’ chemical nature and are corroborated by the prediction of their expected efficiencies in solar cells. The calculated efficiencies from band gaps obtained with the proposed approach closely follow the experimental trend, demonstrating the importance of adopting a reliable but material-independent computational strategy to screen new halide perovskite materials for solar energy conversion.

With the aim of manipulating the mechanical properties of the recently discussed two-dimensional material MXene, we investigate the effect of alloying. We consider substitutional doping of B and V at Ti and C sites of ${\mathrm{Ti}}_2\mathrm{C}$. Calculations of quantities such as in-plane stiffness, Young's modulus, and critical strain through rigorous first-principles technique establish that B doping is highly effective in improving the elastic properties. Oxygen passivation of B-doped ${\mathrm{Ti}}_2\mathrm{C}$ in addition to improved elastic properties also exhibits reasonably high critical strains making them ideally suited for applications in flexible devices. Our study further reveals the presence of strong spin-phonon coupling in unpassivated ${\mathrm{Ti}}_2\mathrm{C}$ compounds which influences the mechanical behavior. The damage of ${\mathrm{Ti}}_2\mathrm{C}$ in its magnetic ground state of A-type antiferromagnetic structure is found to occur at much higher strain than that of the nonmagnetic ${\mathrm{Ti}}_2\mathrm{C}$.