Cadmium sulfide is the
inorganic compound with the formula CdS. Cadmium sulfide is a yellow solid. It occurs in nature with two different crystal structures as the rare minerals
greenockite and
hawleyite, but is more prevalent as an impurity substituent in the similarly structured
zinc ores
sphalerite and
wurtzite, which are the major economic sources of cadmium. As a compound that is easy to isolate and purify, it is the principal source of
cadmium for all commercial applications. Its vivid yellow color led to its adoption as a pigment for the yellow paint "cadmium yellow" in the 18th century.