Surface treatment of mulberry silk was carried out using a VUV excimer lamp (172 nm). The changes occurring in morphology and physical properties of silk were studied. The nanopores created on the surface of treated samples were quantitatively analyzed using a high resolution scanning electron microscope. The physical and chemical changes taking place in silk fabric on irradiation were studied through measurement of wetting and wicking time, weight loss, crystallinity, and strength. Effect of irradiation time and distance from the lamp on these properties was also studied. Results show that wettability and wickability of silk improved significantly on exposure before stabilizing at 5 min irradiation time while the weight loss continued to increase. The effect of irradiation was negligible when the distance of the sample from the lamp became > 15 mm. The effect of irradiation on tensile strength was found to be insignificant. Presence of moisture in silk hindered the effect of irradiation. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.