A rising objective for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is to create extraordinary and cost-effective counter electrode (CE) electrocatalysts. We present here a branching NiCuPt alloy CE synthesized by electrodepositing Ni on ZnO microrod templates and subsequently growing branched Cu as well as suffering from a galvanic displacement for Pt uptake. The resultant NiCuPt alloy CE displays a promising electrocatalytic activity toward redox electrolyte having I-/I-3(-) couples. An impressive power conversion efficiency of 9.66% is yielded for the liquid-junction DSSC platform. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.