Nickel selenide (Ni0.85Se) was synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal reaction and Ni0.85Se film was prepared by spin-coating Ni0.85Se ink on FTO and used as counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The Ni0.85Se CEs not only show high transmittance in visible range, but also possess remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward I-/I-3(-). The electrocatalytic ability of Ni0.85Se films was verified by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Tafel polarization curves. The DSSC using Ni0.85Se CE exhibits a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.96%, while the DSSC consisting of sputtered Pt CE only exhibits a PCE of 8.15%. When adding a mirror under Ni0.85Se CE, the resultant DSSC exhibits a PCE of 10.76%, which exceeds that of a DSSC based on sputtered Pt CE (8.44%) by 27.49%. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.