Broader contextKey challenges to the design of more efficient solid-state dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) include the minimization of interfacial charge recombination losses and the improvement of the spectral overlap of the absorber layer with the solar spectrum. At present there is interest in the use of inorganic nanocrystals such as quantum dots as sensitizers in DSSCs. To improve the spectral coverage of CdS sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 based architectures, we perform selective adsorption of dye sensitizer molecules to CdS nanocrystals. Moreover we demonstrate that the intermediate CdS layer serves as a multifunctional blocking layer that is able to absorb light and can serve as a mediator in a redox cascade system, thereby minimizing charge recombination between the photogenerated electrons and holes.