Titanium dioxide was supported on mesoporous silica and promoted with Pt and Ru. The supported photocatalysts show high surface area and better photocatalytic activity in visible light as compared to the benchmark Degussa P25. These photocatalysts were characterized using XRD, BET-SA, and UV-DRS techniques. The surface area of supported photocatalyst was 140.6 m(2)/g which is higher than Degussa P-25. Supported photocatalyst was evaluated for hydrogen evolution via water splitting reaction using ethanol as a sacrificial donor. Hydrogen yield observed is 4791.43 mu mol/h/g of TiO2 and that for P-25 is 161 mu mol/h/g of TiO2 under visible light irradiation. The value is 30 times higher than benchmark material Degussa P-25. This photocatalyst is also found stable up to 24 h without replenishing with sacrificial donor ethanol. However silica gel/TiO2/Ru does not show any exciting result for hydrogen generation. The effect of various operating parameters like photocatalyst loading, Illumination time and intensity of light on supported photocatalyst also has been studied. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.