Employment of titanium dioxide (TiO2) coated titanium (Ti)/stainless steel (StSt) photoanode on the reduction of the interfacial resistance of dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has been reported. The thickness of Ti layer on the StSt is increased by varying sputtering time. Surface morphological characteristics of the thin TiO2 film, generated by calcination of Ti/StSt film at 500 degrees C, are investigated by Raman spectra and atomic force microscopy. Moreover, cyclic voltammetric studies reveal that the presence of dense TiO2 film retards the redox reaction of I-/I-3(-) on the Ti/StSt substrate. The thickness of the Ti layer and R-TiO2/Ti/St values critically depend on the time of sputtering and calcination respectively. The rear-illuminated flexible DSSC containing screen printed TiO2/Ti/StSt (Ti sputtered for 90 min) shows maximum conversion efficiency of 5.64%, as a result of reduction of charge transport resistance from 159.2 Omega to 0.4 Omega at TiO2/Ti/StSt interface. The conversion efficiency further improves to 6.96% when containing 0.01 M I-2 in electrolyte. The durability test of the flexible DSSC under 100 mW cm(-2) light soaking for more than 1000 h reveals that the conversion efficiency maintains up to >95% of initial value. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.