In this paper, a novel semiconductor-sensitized solar cell with the photoanode based on poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)@CdS@TiO2 nanotube array was fabricated. Vertically oriented TiO2 nanotube arrays were prepared by a sol-gel based method using ZnO nanorod arrays as sacrificing template. CdS nanocrystals and a thin P3HT layer were electrodeposited onto the wall of TiO2 nanotube to prepare the photoanode of the semiconductor-sensitized solar cell. It has been demonstrated that the coating of P3HT on the surface of the CdS@TiO2 core-shell nanotube arrays could largely improve the photovoltaic performance of the solar cell. A power conversion efficiency of 1.16% was obtained with this type of solar cell. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.