A conjugated polymer/ZnS complex was successfully synthesized and characterized by the methods of FTIR, UV-vis, ESR and TEM. The result showed that the conjugated polymer/ZnS complex could extend the absorption band to the visible region (190-700 nm), whereas pure ZnS could be activated under ultraviolet light (<380 nm) irradiation only. Photocatalytic experiment showed that the conjugated polymer/ZnS complex had extremely high photocatalytic activity for degradation of dyes. The conjugated polymer played an important role in the photocatalytic degradation of dyes. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.