Three dimensional dandelion-like hierarchical core-shell Au@ZnO heteroarchitectures with ZnO nanorods grown radially on Au nanoparticle (NP) cores have been successfully prepared with a high yield via a simple solution method involving heteroseed-induced nucleation and subsequent heteroepitaxial growth processes. Briefly, mercaptopropionic acid (MA) modified Au NPs were synthesized beforehand and served as nucleation centers for primary ZnO seed generation and Au@ZnO heteroseed formation. Then an epitaxial growth of ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs) on the Au@ZnO heteroseeds resulted in the formation of Au@ZnO dandelions. The photocatalytic properties of as-prepared Au@ZnO dandelions were evaluated through rhodamine B (RhB) photodegradation under UV irradiation. The result showed that the Au@ZnO dandelions had improved photocatalytic performance compared with pure ZnO NRs and hybrids of ZnO NRs/Au NPs, due likely to the synergistic effect of the metal-semiconductor heterojunction and the unique dandelion-like hierarchical core-shell structure. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.