The aim of this work is to improve the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) using a thin ZnO passivating-layer and micro-disc/ring structured ZnO photoelectrodes A thin ZnO passivating-layer is prepared on the SnO2 F (FTO) substrate by facing-target sputtering technique which prevents the short-circuit in DSC and back-transfer of electron due to the direct-contact between the electrolyte and the FTO substrate Microstructured ZnO photoelectrodes are successfully grown on thin ZnO passivating-layer by a simple sal-gel process without and with 05 1 0 1 5 2 0 g of polyethylene glycol (PEG) contents The micro-disc/ring structured ZnO films have confirmed by field-emission secondary electron and atomic force microscopes The DSC has assembled using ruthenium-based dye microstructured ZnO films KI/I-2-based electrolyte and carbon counter-electrode The photovoltage and the fill factor of DSCs have Improved due to the presence of the ZnO passivating-layer The photocurrent photovoltage and the photoelectric conversion efficiency of DSC Increase with the increase of PEG contents The DSC based on ZnO films prepared with 2 0 g of PEG shows the maximum efficiency of 1 83% photovoltage of 463 mV and photocurrent of 7 2 mA cm(-2) in 100 mW cm(-2) light intensity (c) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved