This work investigates the synthesis and application in solar cells of a novel solar absorber material CuBiS2. Ternary copper chalcogenide CuBiS2 nanoparticles were grown on a mesoporous TiO2 electrode by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The synthesized CuBiS2 nanoparticles, size 5-10 nm, have an energy gap E-g of 2.1 eV. Liquid-junction quantum dot-sensitized solar cells were fabricated from the CuBiS2-sensitized electrode using a polysulfide electrolyte. Three types of counter electrodes (CEs) - Pt, Au and Cu2S - were tested. The photovoltaic performance depends on the CBD reaction time and the CE. The best cell, obtained with the Cu2S CE, exhibited the photovoltaic performance of a short-circuit current density J(SC) of 6.87 mA/cm(2), an open-circuit voltage V-oc of 0.25 V, a fill factor FF of 36% and a power conversion efficiency eta of 0.62%. The present work demonstrates the feasibility of CuBiS2 as a solar energy material. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.