Charge recombination is the most important factor limiting the power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Lots of factors affecting the charge recombination in DSCs have been investigated except the adsorbed concentration of dye on the surface of TiO2 film. By electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis, it is found that with the adsorbed concentration of dye decreasing, both charge transport resistance at the TiO2/electrolyte interface and electron life time within the TiO2 photoanode increase, which indicates that the charge recombination in DSC decreases. Owing to this effect, the DSC keeps the fill factor as high as 0.75-0.78 even though the TiO2 film thickness exceeds 20 mu m. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.