To endow silk with UV-shielding ability and antibacterial activity, CeO2 nanoparticles were immobilized on silk surface via a dip-coating approach without changing silk structure. Surface density of the nanoparticles could be easily adjusted by controlling the number of dip-coating cycle. Enhanced thermal stability of the modified silk is exhibited in thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetric analysis (DTG). The excellent UV-protection ability and antibacterial property of the CeO2 nanoparticle-coated silk are demonstrated in UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and colony-forming capability test, respectively. Based on the data, it can be concluded that CeO2 nanoparticles could be used as a very promising coating material to modify silk for UV-protection and antibacterial applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.