To design highly-effective photocatalysts including various fascinating properties of eco-friendly, visible light response and good durability has been strongly desired in photocatalysis field. Here, we synthetised a series of different proportions of carbon dots (CDs) as an ideal cocatalyst to enhance the photocatalytic activity of ZnIn2S4 microspheres in the range of visible light. Simultaneously, CDs(5)/ZnIn2S4 hybrid photocatalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity for degradating methyl orange (MO) (10 mg/L; 100% degradation within 40 min), which is 2.34 times higher than that of ZnIn2S4 alone. Additionally, the crystalline phases, structure, specific surface area and optical properties of as-prepared samples were characterized. The mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity of CDs/ZnIn2S4 composite was also discussed. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.