A new photoanode material, Cu(II) silicotungstate-K6SiW11O39Cu(H2O)center dot xH(2)O modified TiO2 (SiW11Cu/ TiO2), has been successfully prepared by a combined hydrolysis and hydrothermal method. When SiW11Cu/TiO2 is mixed with P25 powder in a weight ratio of 1:9 as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cell, an improved power conversion efficiency of 7.90% is achieved, significantly higher than that of the cell using P25 as a photoanode (6.16%). The results show that the lifetime and the injection ability of electrons are improved after the modification of the photoanode. The large improvement in device performance is ascribed to the decrease of the charge carrier recombination and the enhanced injection ability of electrons. Furthermore, the introduction of SiW11Cu can synchronously extend the absorption to the visible region, which should also be beneficial to the increase of the device performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.