Monodisperse flowerlike nanoarchitectures assembled from CdS nanoflakes with a diameter of about 0.85 mu m were synthesized by a hydrothermal reaction of CdCl2 with thiocarbamide, polyvinylpyrrolidone and H2O at 180 degrees C for 6.0 h. The constituent CdS nanoflakes have perfect hexagonal shape with the side lengths of 0.37-0.38 mu m and the thicknesses of 60-70 nm. Sphere like particles assembled from CdS nanocrystals formed firstly evolved into flowerlike architectures assembled from nanoflakes via an oriented attachment process due to the selective adsorption of PVP on (0 0 1) surface of CIS with the wurtzite structure. The as-obtained Cd5 flowerlike nanoarchitectures with exposed {0 0 1} facets show higher intrinsic photocatalytic activity than CdS branched nanostructures and commercial powders for degradation of malachite green. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.