A new carbazole-based hole-transporting material incorporating a 3,3'-biphenyl central core has been synthesized via a facile route. A reference compound without carbazole moiety was also prepared. Their geometric structures, thermal stability and photovoltaic properties were investigated. This new carbazole-based material exhibits a high glass transition temperature (167.8 degrees C) and a suitable highest occupied molecular orbital level well-matched with CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite. A low doping content of 4-tert-butylpyridine (120 mM) is observed for the best performance of perovskite solar cell in conjunction with a carbon counter electrode. The device achieves a power conversion efficiency of 4.53% under illumination of 100 mW cm (2) The performance is much better than that of the reference compound (0.19%), and comparable to that of spiro-OMeTAD at the same dopant level (5.10%). The results indicate the carbazole-based material is a promising class of hole-transporting materials for perovskite solar cells. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.