ZnO/CdTe core-shell nanotube arrays are controllablly synthesized using a simple two-step electrochemical deposition strategy in this paper. The as-prepared ZnO/CdTe core-shell nanotube arrays are found to exhibit significantly enhanced photocurrent density for water splitting as compared to the ZnO nanorod arrays. This is mainly due to the lower the band gap or the lower density of oxygen vacancies and other defects states. Furthermore, the effect of CdTe loading on the photoelectrochemical performances of ZnO/CdTe core-shell nanotube arrays was also investigated. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.