To enhance bacterial adhesion and biofilm activity, a new support material named as SiO2-Chitosan-Medium Sol is proposed for hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria. The physicochemical properties of the support material are comparatively investigated with other four different materials in terms of topography, surface energy and composition. And the biocompatibilities to Rhodoseudomonas palustris CQK 01 for these five support materials are experimentally studied by quantifying the initially adhered cell numbers, biofilm dry-weights, protein and polysaccharide in EPS of the biofilms and the average H-2 production rates. Experimental results show that the proposed support material shows favorable properties like rough surface, amine group and nutrients. The new support material enhances the cell adhesion capacity, reduces the biofilm formation time and improves the biofilm activity. The average H-2 production rate of the bioreactor with proposed support material was improved by 80% compared with the rate of the bioreactor with the unmodified material. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.