Hydrogen is considered as one of the most important clean energy carriers for the future. Many experimental and theoretical investigations have focused on the adsorption and activation of H-2 on the metal surfaces. Metal oxides and semiconductors are suitable materials for this purpose. Gelatin assisted Ni loaded SiO2 (g/Ni-SiO2) was prepared and its structural properties, morphology, composition and surface properties were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Elemental mapping and energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements. The prepared material was effectively utilized for H-2 storage applications at room temperature. The H-2 storage capacity of g/Ni-SiO2 was twice that of pristine SiO2. This may be due to large change in pore volume and pore diameter of g/Ni-SiO2, which may enhances the H-2 storage capacity of the sample. The H-2 storage capacity of other materials such as ZnO, anatase TiO2, g/TiO2, g/ZnO, g/TiO2-SO42-,Sb doped TiO2, Ag2S/TiO2, Sb2O3, CdS and SiO2/CdS also studied and compared with g-Ni/SiO2. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.