This paper reports the preparation of a core-shell nanoporous electrode consisting of an inner TiO2 porous matrix and a thin overlayer of Al2O3, and its application for solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell using p-CuI as hole conductor. Al2O3 overlayer was coated onto TiO2 porous film by the surface sol-gel process. The role of Al2O3 layer thickness on the cell performance was investigated. The solar cells fabricated from Al2O3-coated electrodes showed superior performance to the bare TiO2 electrode. Under illumination of AM 1.5 simulated sunlight (89mW/cm(2)), a ca. 0.19 nm Al2O3 overlayer increased the photo-to-electric conversion efficiency from 1.94% to 2.59%. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.