Here we present an electrospinning technique for the fabrication of cadmium titanate/polyvinyl-pyrrolidone composite nanofibers. The composite nanofibers are then annealed at 600 degrees C to obtain ilmenite rhombohedral phase cadmium titanate nanofibers. The structure, composition, thermal stability and optical properties of as synthesized and annealed cadmium titanate nanofibers are characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The average diameter and length of the nanofibers are found to be similar to 150-200 nm and similar to 100 mu m, respectively. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.