ZnS nanoparticles of various morphologies, including hollow or solid spherical, and polyhedral shape, were synthesized from single-source precursor Zn(S(2)COC(2)H(5))(2) without using a surfactant or template. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that ZnS hollow and solid spheres assembled by nanoparticles can be easily generated by the solution phase thermalysis of Zn(S(2)COG(2)H(5))(2) at 80 degrees C using N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and ethylene glycol (EG) or water as solvents, respectively, whereas solvothermal process of the same precursor led to ZnS nanoparticles of polyhedral shape with an average size of 120 nm. The optical properties of these ZnS nanostructures were investigated by room-temperature luminescence and UV vis diffuse reflectance spectra. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.