The cubic beta-In2S3 hollow nanospheres was fabricated via two-step solvothermal approaches using InCl3 center dot 4H(2)O, CS2, and thioacetartride (C2H5NS) as the starting materials. The as-prepared cubic beta-In2S3 possessed hollow nanosphere structures, whose outward diameters and shells are -75 and 20 nm, respectively. The samples were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, SAED, and HRTEM. The optical properties of the cubic beta-In2S3 hollow nanospheres were also investigated. UV-vis (280 nm) and PL (367 nm) spectra indicate that there exists obvious blue shift compared with the In2S3 bulk materials. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.