“…Thus, the obtained Tafel slope values for the synthesized electrocatalysts are 62.45, 54.03, 64.05, 124.49, 96.24, and 391.17 mV/dec for traditional Pt/C, Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-5, Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-10, Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-20, Pt NPs, and TiO 2 @TiC, respectively (Figure c). Notably, the significant enhancement in the HER activity under light irradiation could be due to the semiconductor behavior of the electrocatalysts, which possess the characteristics of optical and electronic properties, including band energies and charge carriers. , Furthermore, the faster charge-transfer kinetics confirmed that the optimal Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-5 sample shows the lowest R ct value compared with other electrocatalysts in Figure d, resulting in higher hydrogen evolution. However, the observed band energy-gap values for Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-5, Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-10, Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-20, and TiO 2 @TiC from the XPS spectra are 3.20, 3.29, 3.35, and 3.43 eV, respectively, indicating that the narrow band gap of Pt/TiO 2 @TiC/Pt-5 can absorb more visible light (Figure e–h).…”