Cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanorods have been prepared by a novel thioglycolic acid assisted hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction shows that the nanorods are of hexagonal structure, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy further identifies that the CdS nanorods are single crystalline in nature. The optical properties of CdS nanorods were characterized by ultraviolet-vis and photoluminescence spectra. Furthermore, the mechanism for the TGA assisted hydrothermal synthesis of CdS nanorods has been preliminary presented. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.