In this study, mesoporous CdS polycrystallites have been synthesized using aliphatic acids of hexanoic acid, octanoic acid, and Oleic acid as coordinating and capping agents, respectively. The fibrous Cd-fatty acid salts act as a template to form the tubular CdS. The organic species are found to be necessary for maintaining the network of mesoporous CdS. The characterization results indicate that the shorter carbon chain length in aliphatic acids favors the wurtzite phase and particle size growth the specific surface area, pore diameter and pore volume show a monotonic raise with increasing carbon chain. The photocatalytic activities of mesoporous CdS tubes exhibit much higher efficiency than those of nanosized CdS powders in decolorizing methylene blue under simulated visible light. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.