Nanostructures of diverse chemical nature are used as biomarkers, therapeutics, catalysts, and structural reinforcements. The decoration with surfactants has a long history and is essential to introduce specific functions. The definition of surfactants in this review is very broad, following its lexical meaning “surface active agents”, and therefore includes traditional alkyl modifiers, biological ligands, polymers, and other surface active molecules. The review systematically covers covalent and non-covalent interactions of such surfactants with various types of nanomaterials, including metals, oxides, layered materials, and polymers as well as their applications. The major themes are (i) molecular recognition and noncovalent assembly mechanisms of surfactants on the nanoparticle and nanocrystal surfaces, (ii) covalent grafting techniques and multi-step surface modification, (iii) dispersion properties and surface reactions, (iv) the use of surfactants to influence crystal growth, as well as (v) the incorporation of biorecognition and other material-targeting functionality. For the diverse materials classes, similarities and differences in surfactant assembly, function, as well as materials performance in specific applications are described in a comparative way. Major factors that lead to differentiation are the surface energy, surface chemistry and pH sensitivity, as well as the degree of surface regularity and defects in the nanoparticle cores and in the surfactant shell. The review covers a broad range of surface modifications and applications in biological recognition and therapeutics, sensors, nanomaterials for catalysis, energy conversion and storage, the dispersion properties of nanoparticles in structural composites and cement, as well as purification systems and classical detergents. Design principles for surfactants to optimize the performance of specific nanostructures are discussed. The review concludes with challenges and opportunities.

具有不同化学性质的纳米结构被用作生物标志物，治疗剂，催化剂和结构增强剂。使用表面活性剂进行装饰的历史悠久，对于引入特定功能至关重要。在本文中，表面活性剂的定义非常宽泛，遵循其词汇含义“表面活性剂”，因此包括传统的烷基改性剂，生物配体，聚合物和其他表面活性分子。综述系统地涵盖了此类表面活性剂与各种类型的纳米材料（包括金属，氧化物，层状材料和聚合物）的共价和非共价相互作用及其应用。主要主题是（i）纳米颗粒和纳米晶体表面上表面活性剂的分子识别和非共价组装机理，（ii）共价接枝技术和多步表面修饰，（iii）分散性能和表面反应，（iv）使用表面活性剂影响晶体生长，以及（v）结合生物识别和其他靶向材料的功能。对于不同的材料类别，以比较的方式描述了表面活性剂的组装，功能以及特定应用中的材料性能的相似性和差异。导致差异的主要因素是表面能，表面化学性质和pH值敏感性，以及纳米颗粒核和表面活性剂壳中表面规则性的程度和缺陷。该评论涵盖了广泛的表面修饰及其在生物识别和治疗，传感器，用于催化的纳米材料，能量转换和存储，纳米颗粒在结构复合材料和水泥中的分散特性，以及净化系统和经典洗涤剂。讨论了用于优化特定纳米结构性能的表面活性剂设计原理。审查总结了挑战和机遇。