In this work, porous silicon (PSi) was synthesized by magnesiothermic reduction of mesoporous SiO2 (MCM-41) and its photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance was investigated. The unique mesoporous structure of PSi expands the band gap of silicon and shifts its conduction band to a more negative position. As a result, excellent photocatalytic water splitting efficiency of 604.7 mu mol h(-)(1) g(-1 )under visible-light radiation is recorded for the synthesized PSi photocatalysts without loading noble metal cocatalysts. This study presented a promising visible light response photocatalysts for the generation green renewable hydrogen energy basing on PSi material deriving from simple magnesiothermic reduction of mesoporous SiO2. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.