For enhanced photocatalytic performance of visible light responsive CdZnS, a series of Cd0.5Zn0.5S solid solutions were fabricated by different methods. It was found that the semiconductor obtained through the precipitation-hydrothermal method (CZS-PH) exhibited the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 2154 mu mol h(-1) g(-1). The enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production of CZS-PH was probably due to stacking fault formation as well as narrow bandgap, a large surface area and a small crystallite size. Based on this, carbon nanotubes modified with Cu2+ (CNTs (Cu)) were used as a cocatalyst for CZS-PH. The addition of CNTs (Cu) enhanced notably the absorption of the composites for visible light. The highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of the Cd0.5Zn0.5S-CNTs (Cu) composite was 2995 mu mol h(-1) g(-1) with 1.0 wt.% of CNTs (Cu). The improvement of the photocatalytic activity by loading of CNTs (Cu) was not due to alteration of bandgap energy or surface area, and was probably attributed to suppression of the electron-hole recombination by the CNTs, with Cu2+ anchored in the interface optimizing the photogenerated electron transfer pathway between the semiconductor and CNTs. We report here the successful combination of homojunction and heterojunction in CdZnS semiconductor, which resulted in promotion of charge separation and enhanced photocatalytic activity. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.