One-dimension (1D) cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanorods were successfully synthesized using cadmium nitrate (Cd(NO3)(2)) and thiourea (NH2CSNH2) as starting materials and poly(vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate) as a capping agent in ethylenediamine as a solvent by solvothermal reaction at 200 degrees C for 24 and 72 h. The phase, morphology, atomic vibration and optical property of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. In the present research, the products were wurtzite hexagonal CdS nanorods growing along the [001] direction, with the 1LO and 2LO vibration modes at 298 and 597 cm(-1) and the absorption peak centered at 486 nm. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.