Abstract In this study, TiO 2 wedgy nanotubes with rectangular cross-sections were fabricated on transparent conductive substrates by using TiO 2 nanorods as the precursor via the anisotropic etching route. TiO2 nanotubes with V-shaped hollow structure and the special crystal plane exposed on the tube wall possess nature of high surface area for more dye molecules absorption, and the strong light scattering effects and dual-channel for effective electron transport of the TiO 2 V-shaped nanotubes based dye-sensitized solar cell exhibit a remarkable photovoltaic enhancement compared with the TiO 2 nanorods. The photoanode based on our V-shaped TiO 2 nanotubes with a length of 1.5 μm show a 123% increase of the dye loading and a 182% improvement in the overall conversion efficiency when compared with 4 μm rutile TiO 2 nanorods photoanode.