Based on the adsorption behavior of modified silica nanoparticles in the sandstone core surface, the hydrophobic surface was constructed, which consists of micro-nanoscale hierarchical structure. This modified core surface presents a property of drag reduction and meets the challenge of high injection pressure and low injection rate in low or ultra-low permeability reservoir. The modification effects on the surface of silica nanoparticles and reservoir cores, mainly concerning hydrophobicity and fine structure, were determined by measurements of contact angle and scanning electron microscopy. Experimental results indicate that after successful modification, the contact angle of silica nanoparticles varies from 19.5 degrees to 141.7 degrees, exhibiting remarkable hydrophobic properties. These modified hydrophobic silica nanoparticles display a good adsorption behavior at the core surface to form micro-nanobinary structure. As for the wettability of these modified core surfaces, a reversal has happened from hydrophilic into hydrophobic and its contact angle increases from 59.1 degrees to 105.9 degrees. The core displacement experiments show that the relative permeability for water has significantly increased by an average of 40.3% via core surface modification, with the effects of reducing injection pressure and improving injection performance of water flooding. Meanwhile, the mechanisms of drag reduction and improving water injection operation induced from the modified core surface were uncovered. The present study will establish a fundamental understanding on the drag reduction at the core surface modified by nanofluids and its applications in more industries. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.