A smooth, semitransparent and homogeneous Parylene C/nanosilica composite film was prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The film was deposited onto the Si substrate coated with a modified nanosilica layer. The nanosilica modified by silane coupling agent have uniform diameters and distribution in the film. The diameter can be roughly estimated in the range of 80- 150 nm. The thermal stability of the composite film containing modified silica nanoparticles is better than that of the pure and doped film with commercial nanoparticles, which is ascribed to the strong chemical bonding between the modified nanosilica and Parylene monomers. sigma(e) and sigma(s), as elastic limit and yield stress, are about 21.2 MPa and 23.4 MPa of the pure film, compared with 32.1 MPa and 33.4 MPa of the composite film due to the nanosize effect and intensive interface adhesion of silica nanoparticles as reinforcement. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.