The present work investigates Zn doped TiO2 (1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 12.0 and 30.0 wt.% Zn) photo catalysts; prepared by sol gel auto-ignition method, which were systematically investigated to configure their structural, surface, optical and morphological properties via using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive Xray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The photocatalytic H-2 evolution using the TiO2-ZnO suspensions was evaluated in a 25 vol.% aqueous ethanol medium using UV illumination (Hg lamp lambda = 254 nm, 2.2 mW/cm(2)). The Zn+2 concentrations utilized to prepare TiO2-ZnO nano composites were found to have significant effects on specific surface areas, energy band gaps (Eg), efficient separation of charged pairs and thus affected the photocatalytic performances. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2-10 wt.% ZnO composite has reached an optimal H-2 production of 1048 mu mol h(-1) exceeding those of the pure TiO2 (151 mu mol h(-1)) and TiO2 P25 (595 mu mol h(-1) photocatalysts. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.