Gadolinium doped rutile nanorods have been prepared by simple hydrothermal method. By using the prepared gadolinium doped rutile titania nanorods dye sensitized solar cells have been fabricated. The effect of gadolinium on the performance of dye sensitized solar cells has been reported. The synthesized gadolinium doped rutile nanorods were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Dye sensitized solar cells fabricated using 0.2% gadolinium doped rutile nanorods showed an improved short-circuit current density of 11.66 mA cm(-2), open-circuit photo voltage of 0.65 V, fill factor of 0.65, and an overall conversion efficiency of 5%. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.