Display omitted •Preparation of TiO2 nanotube arrays by anodic oxidation.•The optimum parameters of the water content in electrolyte, anodizing time and ultrasonic post-treatment were determined.•The effects of each parameter on the morphology and crystal form of TiO2 nanotube arrays was studied.•The effects of TiO2 nanotube arrays with different anodization parameter on the photoelectric performance of DSSC were obtained. In this paper, TiO2 nanotube arrays were prepared by anodic oxidation method. The effects of water content, anodizing time and sample post-treatment on the morphology and crystal structure of TiO2 nanotube arrays were systematically investigated. We explored the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on dye N-719. The TiO2 nanotube arrays prepared under different water content and different anodizing time conditions were used as photoanodes. The results show that DSSC has best photovoltaic performance when the water content is 2 vol%. With the increase of oxidation time, Jsc increases continuously, open voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) increase first and then decrease. The best optoelectronic properties obtained that the short circuit current, open circuit voltage, fill factor and photoelectric conversion efficiency as following, Jsc = 5.2 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.7 V, FF = 0.54, η = 1.96% respectively.