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Extremely small CdS particles were prepared in propanol−2 solution at − 78°C and in aqueous solution in the presence of sodium hexametaphosphate at room temperature. These colloids are colorless. Their UV absorption spectra exhibit several maxima. Aging of the colloids is accompanied by intensity variations in the absorption maxima and by a shift of the onset of absorption to longer wavelengths. These small CdS particles hardly possess semiconductor properties (Q‐state CdS). A semi‐classical treatment of the energies of an electron‐hole pair in these particles yielded the wavelengths of their absorption spectra. At the small particle sizes used, the first excited state was reached by photon‐absorption in the UV, and the second excited state was generally not reached at all. The various maxima in the absorption spectra are explained in terms of a size distribution of the colloids with preferential agglomeration numbers. Reasons for the formation of such a structured size distribution are given. The fluorescence and fluorescence excitation spectra of the small particles were also investigated. Particles below a certain size have only one broad fluorescence band at a much longer wavelengths than the onset of absorption. As the particle size increases, this band is shifted towards longer wavelengths, and finally an additional rather sharp band appears at the threshold of absorption. CdS colloids in the Q‐state can be made which fluoresce as desired anywhere between the red and the blue. Also reported are the first experiments in which the preparation of Q‐type CdS in the solid state is achieved by evaporating the solvent from the colloidal solutions.

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