Novel TiO2/Nb2O5 core-sheath nanofibers (NFs) were prepared via co-electrospinning. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were assembled using TiO2/Nb2O5 NF films as photoanode. The incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and photocurrent-voltage (I-V) characteristics were measured to evaluate the performance of DSSCs. The TiO2/Nb2O5-based DSSCs are superior to their TiO2-based counterparts. The conversion efficiency is enhanced from 4.5 to 5.8%, which corresponds to an increase of ca. 30%. And the enhancement mechanism was discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.