A novel intracellular bioflocculant (named MBF-W6) produced by Chryseobacterium daeguense W6 cultured in low nutrition medium was investigated in this study. The effects of carbon source, nitrogen source, C/N ratio, initial pH, inoculum size, culture temperature and shaking speed on MBF-W6 production were studied. Chemical analysis. showed that the purified MBF-W6 was mainly composed of 32.4% protein, 13.1% polysaccharide and 6.8% nucleic acid. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy indicated the presence of carboxyl, hydroxyl, and methoxyl groups. The elemental analysis of purified MBF-W6 revealed that the mass proportion of C, H, O, N and S was 40.92:6.53:44.01:8.53:1.01 (w/w) correspondingly. MBF-W6 had good flocculating rate in Kaolin suspension without any cation addition. The highest flocculating rate of 96.9% was achieved under the optimal conditions (bioflocculant dosage 1.2 mg l(-1), pH 5.6 and temperature 15 degrees C). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.