Compared with the poor electron conducting ability of rutile TiO2, materials such as SnO2-Sb2O3 composite have excellent electron mobility. Here, we report the synthesis of rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays grown on FTO substrate through a mild one-pot hydrothermal method. TiO2 nanorod arrays were then modified with SnO2-Sb2O3 composite by spin coating technology. The morphology and the structure were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). EIS measurement shows that the transfer resistance of the electrons is greatly reduced, while the UV-Vis diffuses reflectance spectra and the corresponding optical bandgaps measured by Tauc plots indicate that the energy gap of the modified TiO2 remains unchanged. Time-limited photocurrent response and IPCE both show that the solar cell using SnO2-Sb2O3 modified TiO2 shows improved photoelectric response. The solar cell optimized with SnO2-Sb2O3 has a higher photocurrent density and a higher fill factor, which leads to 7.7% conversion efficiency and a 19% increase when compared to the unmodified TiO2 nanorod arrays. (C) 2016 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.