-doped ZnS nanoparticles showed PL characteristics when irradiated with an excitation light with a wavelength of 345 nm. Accordingly, a simple process to heat the mixture of the sulfide precipitate and ethylene glycol at 348 K enabled us to obtain a homogeneous transparent sol of Mn 2+ -doped ZnS nanoparticles with PL characteristics. According to the results of the chemical analysis of the molar fraction of Mn 2+ in the obtained precipitate (X Precipitate ) and the nanoparticles in the sols (X Nano ), the X Nano was less than that the X Precipitate as compared with the same X Solution . The Mn 2+ ions in the nanoparticles were dissolved in the solvent during the heat treatment since the solubility product of MnS was much larger than that of ZnS. As such, the dissolution-precipitate process played an important role in the formation of the sol.