Photoluminescence properties of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) capped cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanoparticles embedded in polyvinyl alcohol matrix (PVA) are reported. The PVP-CdS nanoparticles are prepared by non-aqueous method wherein cadmium nitrate is used as the cadmium source and hydrogen sulphide as the sulphur source. The synthesized nanoparticles are dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix and cast as self-standing flexible (PVP-CdS)-PVA films. The nanocomposites are characterized by optical absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. XRD and TEM studies show the formation of cubic US particles with average size similar to 3-5 run. Thermal studies, carried out to observe the changes in PVA matrix due to the incorporation of PVP-CdS nanoparticles show strong interaction between the polymer matrix and nanoparticles. The photoluminescence emission spectra of the nanocomposites show two peaks, at 502 and 636 nm, which are attributed to the band edge and surface defects respectively, of US nanoparticles. Effective surface capping with optimum concentration of polyvinyl pyrrolidone leads to the quenching of surface defect-related emission. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.