The work aims to investigate the modification effects of different modifiers on nano-palygorskite surface and explore their anti-friction and anti-wear performance and self-repairing mechanism in oil lubrication. Oleic acid and titanate were selected as the modifiers to modify the nano-palygorskite and the modification effect was evaluated by sedimentation experiments and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The pre-selected modifier and the nano-palygorskite were put in a ball millfor online modification to prepare lubricating oil additive. Then the nano-palygorskite additive was dispersed into base oil 150N through ultrasonic treatment to obtain the final lubricating oil dispersion. After that, the tribological properties of nano-palygorskite additive were tested by a ring-on-disk tribometer. The microstructure was observed and analyzed by metallographic microscope, scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and the lubrication and self-repairing mechanisms were also explored. The nano-palygorskite modified by oleic acid could meet the requirements of the lubricant industry and significantly improved the tribological performance of lubricating oil. Specially, when 3.0wt.% of nano-palygorskite additive was introduced, the average friction coefficient and wear mass loss of 45# steel friction pair were reduced by 31.3% and 16.0% respectively, due to the formation of multiple elements-based composite ceramic self-repairing films. Nano-palygorskite additive can be intelligently adsorbed to the frictional interface along with the flowing oil and generates a nano-ball effect by avoiding the direct contact between friction pairs. Simultaneously, the friction-induced furrows and scratches are also filled by the self-repairing films during the interface sliding process. The nano-ball effect and the self-repairing film can work together to achieve the excellent friction-reducing and wear-resisting effect.