In situ growth of ZnO layer on the surface of carbon dots was realized via a two-step method, which resulted in an enhancement of the broad visible emission with a high quantum yield. Influence of the refluxing time, the temperature and the oleylamine/octadecene ratio was investigated to address the key factors on the preparation of the carbon dots. Under the optimal conditions, the carbon dots with an average diameter of 3.4 +/- 0.4 nm and a photoluminescence quantum yield of 29.3% were achieved. Remarkable improvements of photoluminescence were achieved by the hybridization of the ZnO layer, which can eliminate the surface-trap from the C cores and form the new centers of emission. The synergistic effect arising from the C/ZnO hybridized structure obviously broadened the visible emission and enhanced their photoluminescence quantum yield from 29.3% to 47.3%. The as-prepared highly emissive quantum dots exhibited a broad and stable emission with the Commission Internationaled 'E' clairage chromaticity coordinate of (0.23, 0.34), which could offer a promising solution for the future-generation white light emitting diodes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.