It was expected that additional long alkyl chains (D4, D5)
would induce better conversion capabilities because of the formation of the three-dimensional structure composed by alkyl
chains and the adjacent nonplanar triphenylamine, which helps to
avoid a tendency towards aggregation on the surface of TiO2.It
could also effectively retard the charge recombination between
injected electron and the electrolyte, what is favourable for
increasing the electron lifetimes and hence improvement of Voc
[32].