A novel multilayer brookite TiO2 electrode for improved performance of pure brookite-based dye sensitized solar cells

[Display omitted] •Three kinds of high-quality brookite TiO2 nanoparticles are hydrothermally prepared.•A novel light-trapping pure brookite TiO2 electrode is proposed and fabricated.•Multilayer pure brookite-based DSSCs fabricated has higher VOC than P25-based one.•The enhanced efficiency is correlated with efficient light harvesting.•Efficiency exceed the record one in the area of pure brookite-based solar cell. A novel multilayer brookite TiO2 film-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSCs) is proposed and prepared by three kinds of brookite TiO2 nanoparticles. By optimizing the structure of multilayer brookite TiO2 electrode, the optimal photovoltaic conversion efficiency of multilayer brookite-based solar cell could reach to 8.16%, which is much higher than the current record (5.97%) of pure brookite-based one reported in the literature. The new structure with excellent light scattering effect can effectively extend the optical path length in the TiO2 film, which demonstrates a clear advance towards efficient improvement of the photovoltaic performance of pure brookite-based solar cells.