Zinc sulfide (ZnS) hollow spheres are synthesized via hydrothermal method from thiourea and Zn(OOCHCH3)(2)center dot 2H(2)O, and ZnS-hollow-spheres/dravite (ZnS/dravite) composite is prepared in the presence of the dravite. It is demonstrated that the ZnS hollow spheres have an outer diameter of similar to 120 nm with shell 20 similar to 30 nm in thickness, and are dispersed uniformly on dravite microparticles. HRTEM observation and time course experiments reveal that the hollow spheres are formed in the spontaneous permanent polar field of dravite and grow up into larger size with the hydrothermal treatment time. The prepared ZnS/dravite composites exhibit high efficient catalytic activity on degrading methylene blue under UV (360 nm) irradiation. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.