AgBiS2 nanoparticles (NPs) have been loaded on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by the solvothermal treatment on a mixture of MWCNTs, AgNO3, Bi(NO3)(3)center dot 5H(2)O and thiosemicarbazide in a mixed polyol solvent. The resulting MWCNT-AgBiS2 hybrid samples have been extensively characterized by a variety of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The AgBiS2 NPs can be uniformly deposited on the sidewalls of MWCNTs by appropriately regulating the reaction conditions including reaction temperature and reaction time. Optical limiting (OL) studies have been performed on typical MWCNT-AgBiS2 samples using the Z -scan and OL measurements at the laser wavelength of 532 nm. The MWCNT-AgBiS2 hybrids with AgBiS2 NPs of 16nm in size uniformly coated on the nanotubes show a significantly enhanced OL effect in comparison to the purified MWCNTs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.