Photocatalyst ZnIn₂S₄ was synthesized via the solvothermal method without templates,catalysts and surfactants,and the as-synthesized samples were characterized by means of XRD,SEM,EDS,XPS and UV-vis.Moreover,the effects of reaction time on the crystal structure,morphology,optical properties and photocatalyticactivity of ZnIn₂S₄ samples were discussed. The results indicate that ZnIn₂S₄ microspheres are composed of numerousnanosheets and present petaloid structure,and that,with the decrease of reaction time,the crystallite graduallyenlarges,the stability of the samples improves and the hydrogen production rate increases. However,with theincrease of reaction time,the photocatalytic activity of ZnIn₂S₄ decreases. In addition,after a solvothermal procedurefor 1h,the photocatalytic activity of ZnIn₂S₄ achieves the maximum and the hydrogen production rate is up to745.8 μmol /( h·g) .