Perovskite solar cells have advanced rapid in the last few years, however the thermal instability of perovskite film on ZnO nanorods (NRs) remains a big challenge limiting its commercialization. The present work demonstrated effective suppression of the decomposition of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite through inserting a thin tin oxide (SnO2) passivation layer between ZnO NRs and perovskite films. Although X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed no distinct difference in the amount of hydroxyl groups and oxygen vacancies on the surface of ZnO NRs and ZnO@SnO2 NRs, Raman spectra suggested the hydroxyl groups might be trapped in oxygen vacancies on SnO2 surface, preventing the decomposition of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite through reacting with the hydroxyl groups. The power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells was significantly increased from 6.92% to 12.17% and became hysteresis-free by applying SnO2 passivating layer between perovskite and ZnO layers. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.