A novel triple-layer photoanode architecture, composed of ZnO and ZnO/CNT nanostructure semiconductor films for dye-sensitized solar cell with excellent power conversion efficiency is fabricated by a simple strategy. A convenient and effective method is applied to disperse the multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). The structure, morphology and light absorption of the novel hybrid photoanode are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy analyze. Results indicate that the ZnO has a typical wurtzite structure and the MWCNTs are homogeneously dispersed in ZnO. Current voltage curves demonstrate CNT-0.5 with 0.05wt% of carbon nanotube (CNT) is the most suitable in improving the performance of DSSCs, and the power conversion efficiency of ZnO/CNT-0.5-0.05wt% is 6.25%, which is 35.57% higher than those without CNTs (4.61%). Finally, electrochemical impedance spectra confirms that the abundant dyes absorption by the ZnO layer and large numbers of direct pathway for electron transport provided by the MWCNTs are attributed to the high efficiency of this new DSSC. This result is remarkable and provides a novel triple-layer ZnO/CNT architecture in improving the performance of DSSCs. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.