A TiO2-embedded NiCl2 gel is prepared and used as growth catalyst to in situ synthesize binded, thick and porous carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) on Ti foil substrate with a simple flame synthesis method for dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) counter electrode (CE) applications. The viscous gel catalyst can hold sufficient NiCl2 coated on substrate to make CNP layer thick. The embedded TiO2 can effectively separate the abundant NiCl2 components to active the Ni catalyst for CNP growth and then make CNP layer become porous. In addition, the TiO2 components can bind the porous CNP products to make them conductive. With an optimized TiO2 fraction, the CE shows high catalytic ability and electrical conductivity. By applying this CNP CE for DSSC, a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 6.6% is achieved, which exceeds 6.5% of a reference cell using costly platinum as CE. Furthermore, the CNP structure is demonstrated beneficial to carrier transport by a mass transfer model. This easy and effective preparation method may have a potential application in general nanomaterial preparation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.