Thin films of indium sulfide (In2S3) micro- and nanorods were successfully prepared by sulfurization of electrodeposited metal indium layers. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and UV-vis spectroscopy. From XRD and TEM observations it was concluded that the In2S3 nanorods and microrods have similar to 50 nm and similar to 0.5 mu m diameter, respectively. A plausible top-growth mechanism was proposed for the formation of the nanorods in which the hydroxide layer was found to play an important role. The micro- and nanorods showed optical bandgap of similar to 2.2 and similar to 2.54 eV, respectively. This facile and cost effective method may be extended to fabricate other metal chalcogenide nanostructures on solid substrates. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All fights reserved.