Chemical bath method was used to synthesize bilayer ZnO nanostructure on ITO glass in the alkaline solution. As revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the product consists of a layered structure of ZnO nanorods at the bottom and nanoflower atop. The as-prepared sample was assembled in quantum dot sensitized solar cell (QDSSC), which obtained the incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 15% at 400 nm and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.45%. Therefore, this novel bilayer ZnO nanostructure has the potential for application in solar cell device as the photoelectrode. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.