Pt-CdS/TiO2 nanorods with different molar ratios of Cd:Ti were prepared through an electrospinning method followed by sulfidation treatment and photodeposition. The nanorod-like samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence spectra (PL), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The results indicated that the as-prepared samples exhibited wider light absorption range and lower recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs after the introduction of Pt and CdS. The photocatalysis experiments showed that Pt-modified CdS/TiO2 nanorods exhibited much higher activities than pure TiO2 in the evolution of hydrogen under simulated solar light irradiation. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.