A simple and facile chemical route is used to synthesize Pt nanoparticles (NPs) on ZnO nanrods (NRs) for use as photoelectrodes. The EDS and XPS results show that the loading amount of Pt NPs increases with the concentration of Pt precursor, but the metallic state of Pt element in NPs decreases. Photoluminescence and electrochemical impedance measurements demonstrate that the decoration of Pt NPs achieves efficient separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and fast charge transfer, respectively. Notably, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) results clearly show that Pt-decorated ZnO NRs have greater PEC activity and stability compared to pristine ZnO NRs. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.