Low temperature fabrication of high performance p-n junction on the Ti foil for use in large-area flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

•A new p-n junction is prepared and used in the large-area flexible DSSC as an anode.•The p-n junction formes a directional pathway for the charge separation and electron transport.•The p-n junction showes low charge-transfer resistance and high effective electron lifetime.•The efficiency of the large-area flexible DSSC reaches 6.51% based on the p-n junction.