A simple and feasible hydrothermal process was designed to synthesize MoS2/CdS composite catalyst. The surface morphology and crystal morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The surface chemical state, the chemical structure and the ultraviolet visible light response were investigated by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and ultraviolet visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The results revealed that MoS2 was uniformly loaded on the surface of CdS, and the XPS measurement discovered strong interactions between CdS and MoS2. The intimate contact is beneficial for the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity. By loading 2.0 wt% MoS2 on CdS, the hydrogen production rate of CdS was enhanced by 17 times. The maximal hydrogen production rate of the composite catalyst reached 4.06 mmol g(-1) h(-1) under visible light irradiation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.