The temperature dependence of electrochemical CO2 reduction on Ag and CuAg alloys

[Display omitted] •The effect of temperature on the electrochemical CO2 reduction on Ag and CuAg alloys.•Alloying Ag with Cu can be a good strategy to prevent some of the disadvantages of pure Cu at elevated temperatures.•New fundamental insights in the effect of temperature on the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction. Ag is often studied as catalyst for electrochemical CO2 reduction as it shows high selectivity towards CO and is easily alloyed with Cu to enhance performance using CuAg catalysts. In this study, we investigated the effect of temperature on Ag and CuAg catalysts and compare these with previous results on Au and Cu catalysts. We show that the temperature effect is complicated as it shows an interplay with CO2 concentration, potential and mass transport. It is therefore crucial to deconvolute these parameters and study the effect of temperature under different conditions. Moreover, we show that alloying Ag with Cu can inhibit some of the deactivation effects observed at high temperatures on pure Cu. CuAg alloys can prevent the dominance of hydrogen evolution at elevated temperatures, although an optimum of C2+ products with temperature is still observed.