The invention is suitable for the technical field of reactors, and provides a preparation method and application of a
surface modified copper-based
superstructure nanoreactor. According to the method disclosed by the invention, by constructing and combining mercaptan modification and high-pressure CO2
supersaturation strategies, the target of efficiently converting CO2 into a multi-
carbon product through electroreduction is achieved. A cavity is formed between the Cu NP and the carbon shell through
nitric acid etching, a space is provided for CO2 enrichment and three-phase interface formation, the * CO intermediate concentration is increased through the confinement effect, and C-C
coupling is promoted; and the stability is enhanced by carbon shell encapsulation. Hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity are regulated through modification of
propanethiol, establishment of a three-phase interface is assisted,
hydrogen evolution reaction is inhibited, and C-C
coupling energy barriers are reduced. The C2 product selectivity (= 90.11%) reaches an excellent level; and the
ethanol selectivity (FEethol) can be up to 70.15% at most, and a key barrier is broken through for industrial application of a CO2RR technology.