In this paper, we present a method to prepare interconnected TiO2 nanowires consisting of nanosized crystallites (INCNCs). A high light-to-electricity conversion yield of 8.20% was achieved by applying the structure of the thin INCNCs electrode film in DSSC with gel electrolyte, much higher than 6.84% of TiO2 nanoparticulate film with same thickness (6.5 mu m). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.