Fe doped CdS nanoparticles (Cd1-xFexS; where x = 0.00, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.10) were synthesized by a chemical precipitation method. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Raman and UV-vis spectrometer. The XRD and TEM measurements show that the size of crystallites is in the range of 2-10 nm. With increased the Fe doping concentration, the position of the Raman bands shifted towards higher wavenumbers and their intensities decreased drastically. Optical measurements indicated that the absorption band edge shifted towards longer wavelength upon Fe doping. Direct allowed band gap of undoped and Fe doped CdS nanoparticles measured by UV-vis spectrometer were 2.3 and 2.2 eV at 100 degrees C, respectively. Photocatalytic activities of CdS and Fe doped CdS were evaluated by irradiating the solution of methylene blue (MB) and sample under visible light. It was found that Fe doped CdS bleaches MB much faster than undoped CdS upon its exposure to the visible light. The optimum Fe/Cd ratio was observed to be 3 mol% for photocatalytic applications. In contrast, little degradation was observed for the pure CdS powder. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.