Abstract We reported on the synthesis, characterization, and photovoltaic/electrochemical properties of Pt/acetylene-black (AB) cathode as well as their application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The Pt/AB electrode was prepared through a thermal decomposition of H 2 PtCl 6 on the AB substrate. SEM and TEM observations showed that the Pt nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed on the AB surface. The Pt-loading content in the Pt/AB electrode was only about 2.0 μg cm −2 , which was much lower than 5–10 μg cm −2 generally used for the Pt electrode in DSCs. Electrochemical measurements displayed a low charge-transfer resistance of 1.48 Ω cm 2 for the Pt/AB electrode. Furthermore, when this low-Pt-loading electrode was used as the cathode of DSCs, an overall light-to-electricity energy conversion efficiency of 8.6% was achieved, showing commercially realistic energy conversion efficiency in the application of DSCs.