Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on TiO2 nanowires/nanoparticles composite photoanode with SrO shell coating is studied. TiO2 nanowires are synthesized by hydrothermal treatment and the composite photoanodes are prepared through mixing various mass ratios of nanowires and nanoparticles. The result shows that the composite photoanode containing optimized TiO2 nanoparticles and nanowires can increase electron transfer efficiency. DSSC with PW10 (nanowires content is 10 wt%) photoanode shows a relative high conversion efficiency of 6.27% because of the synergistic role of the high specific area of nanoparticles and rapid electron transfer of nanowires. Furthermore, PW10 photoanode with SrO shell coating can increase the conversion efficiency to 6.91% due to the barrier role of the shell. The research confirms that such a novel photoanode structure can suppress the electrons recombination process and increase the conversion efficiency effectively. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.