CO2 flooding has the advantages of easy injection and miscibility in the development of low permeability reservoirs，but it will inevitably bring asphaltene deposition problems in the process of oil displacement，resulting in reservoir pore throat blockage，wettability change and permeability reduction. Nanoparticles have great potential in inhibiting asphaltene deposition，and are expected to be further used to improve oil recovery in low permeability reservoirs. In this paper，the mechanism of nanoparticles inhibiting asphaltene deposition is discussed from the molecular structure level，the latest research progress in recent years is summarized，the challenges of the research and application are pointed out，and its prospective is predicted. Nanoparticles mainly inhibit asphaltene deposition through adsorption and dispersion. Adsorption de? pends on the electrostatic attraction between the surface charge of the nanoparticles and the strong polar groups of the asphaltene，so that the nanoparticles are coated on the surface of asphaltene molecules and asphaltene deposition is avoided.Dispersion is mainly through the grafting of organic chains on the surface of nanoparticles to form van der Waals force or steric hindrance with asphaltene molecules，thus destroying the self-association between asphaltene molecules and achieving the inhibition of asphaltene deposition. However，the technology is still in the stage of laboratory study，and its large scale field application is restricted by factors such as the stability of nanofluids，the economy of nanomaterials，and the uncertainty to the environment，etc. The development of novel nanofluids with good stability，high economic benefits and environment-friendly is the key to future research，and the establishment of a more accurate mathematical model is also an important direction for future work.