Material discovery and development has been playing a significant role in shaping human civilizations, by studying and improving materials for appealing observations to aid in our survival as well as to satisfy our curiosity. From the common earthly materials that give us strong building structures and hunting weapons to the Silicon Age that contributes to the creation of modern electronics and computers, the development of novel and enhanced materials continues to grow. Recently, a new field has emerged that is rapidly expanding the engineering circle; these are called nanomaterials. By shrinking bulk materials into structures with nanoscale dimensions, there is a deviation from classical physics, and quantum effects begin to dominate the properties of these materials. The nanometer range brings a high surface area-volume ratio which enhances the reactivity of the material, and thus size-dependent properties are materialized. Such behaviors can be applicable in several areas such as biomedical, catalysis, optics, processing, sensing and more. Nanomaterials can be further functionalized to grant new and enhanced functions, features and capabilities needed for a specific application. This dissertation aids to explore the functionalization of 1D and 2D nanomaterials for various applications. The proposed 1D and 2D nanostructures for testing will be polymer hydrogel nanofibers and silica nanoparticulate thin films, respectively. Nanofibers are unique by acting like swollen nanoreactors to enable functionalization via aqueous absorption and reaction. Silica nanoparticulate films have high nano-porosity, which can wet the thin coating intrinsically with aqueous and organic solvents or with non-organic solvents upon additional surface chemistry modification. In this dissertation, the functionalization of 1D and 2D nanostructures with chemical compounds and metal colloids will be tested, and the performance of the nanomaterials and nanocomposites for various applications will be evaluated.