A synthetic route was developed to link N3 dye to polyacrylic acid (PAA) using ethylenediamine (en) as the linker. The resulting complex, PAA-en-N3, was then coated onto a TiO2 film. The modified TiO2 film electrode (hereafter PAA-en-N3/TiO2), when used as the photoanode in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) exhibited enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency compared with that of the usual DSSC with the N3/TiO2 film electrode. The increase in efficiency was attributed to the increased open-circuit voltage (V-oc) and short-circuit photocurrent (J(sc)). The increase in V-oc was attributed to the formation of a hydrophobic PAA-en-N3 layer on the TiO2/ electrolyte interface, while the increase in J(sc) was attributed to the additional dye acquired by the TiO2 film from the PAA-en-N3 complex. (C) 2007 Elsevier BN. All rights reserved.