ZnO microrod arrays films with the surface modification by two steps ion-exchange approach have been investigated as photoanodes in photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. X-ray diffraction, Raman, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray detector, UV-vis techniques and PEC measurement have been used in the pristine and surface modified ZnO microrod films. The results show that ZnS and CdS layer can be deposited on ZnO microrod surface through a two steps ion-exchange procedure. What's more, it is found that ion-exchange method is a simple approach to adjust CdS content on the samples surface via changing experimental temperature. Consequently, the PEC property of films can be improved through optimizing CdS content on the ZnO microrods surface. In this experiment, it is found that the optimized condition for preparing film is 70 degrees C (first step) and 100 degrees C (second step). These results suggest that surface tuning via ion-exchange method should represent a viable strategy to further improve the efficiency of ZnO microrods photoanodes. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.