Oleic acid (OA)-modified SiO2 (OA-m-SiO2) nanoparticles were prepared using surface modification method.Infrared spectroscopy (IR) was used to investigate the structure of the OA-m-SiO2 nanoparticles, and the result showed that OA attached onto the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles through esterification. Effect of OA concentration on the dispersion stability of OA-m-SiO2 in heptane was also studied, and the result indicated that OA-m-SiO2 nanoparticles were dispersed in heptane more stably than the unmodified ones. OA-m-SiO2 nanoparticles can also be dispersed in polypropylene (PP) matrix in nano-scale. The effect of OA-m-SiO2 on crystallization of PP was studied by means of DSC. It was found that the introduction of OA-m-SiO2 resulted in significant increase in the crystallization temperature, crystallization degree and crystallization rate of PP, and OA-m-SiO2 could effectively induce the formation of β-crystal PP. Effect of OA-m-SiO2 content on mechanical properties of PP/OA-m-SiO2 nanocomposites was also studied. The results show that OA-m-SiO2 can significantly improve the mechanical properties of PP.