Counter electrode (CE) materials, featuring low cost, high electrical conductivity and electrocatalytic activity, are one of the key points to achieve practical application of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To tackle with this issue, the pillared and double-faced polyaniline (PANI) nanocone arrays induced by graphene oxide (GO) (PANI/GO) are configured through in-situ polymerization, and the electrochemical behavior as the low-cost CE for DSSCs is revealed. The GO sheets adopted as a substrate and structure-directing agent could effectively induce the uniform and vertical growth of PANI arrays, thus producing a free and open networks. This unique structure is further capable of shortening the ionic diffusion path and providing the large contactable area to the electrolyte. And, a high power conversion efficiency of 8.19 +/- 0.08% can be achieved, being superior to those of Pt and PANI references. Moreover, the as-made PANI/GO CE also delivers an outstanding electrochemical stability. The present strategy provides a simple yet efficient method to engineer the high-efficiency and fast mass-transport catalyst for DSSCs and electrode materials for other energy storage/conversion. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.