In order to seek a cost-effective and facile approach to synthesize counter electrode (CE) material used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), MoSe2 nanoflowers (300 similar to 400 nm) with nanosphere hierarchical architecture were prepared successfully via a facile and economical hydrothermal method. The systematical electrochemical measurements including EIS, CV and Tafel polarization experiments illustrated that MoSe2 nanoflowers exhibited superior electrocatalytic property. The excellent electrocatalytic performance could be due to abundant active sites, stable chemical property, enhanced exchange current density (Jo) and decreased charge-transfer resistance (R-ct) of the fabricated MoSe2 nanoflowers. In addition, the DSSCs assembled by MoSe2 CE achieved more remarkable photovoltaic performance (PCE = 7.01%) for I-3(-) reduction than standard Pt CE (PCE = 6.38%), suggesting that MoSe2 nanoflowers could be a promising alternative for CE material in DSSCs. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.