Stability and efficiency are important to realize the practical applications of photocatalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water splitting. ZnO-CdS core-shell nanorods with a wide absorption range were designed and synthesized by a two-step route. The ZnO-CdS core-shell nanorods exhibit stable and high photocatalytic activity for water splitting into hydrogen in the presence of S(2-) and SO(3)(2-) as sacrificial reagents. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity and stability of ZnO-CdS core-shell nanorods/RuO(2) co-catalyst is superior to that of ZnO-CdS core-shell nanorods/Pt co-catalyst. The merits of stable ZnO and CdS, core-shell and nanorod structures employed are considered to contribute to the favorable photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of ZnO-CdS core-shell nanorods. (c) 2009 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.